


The Agreement

by syd



Series: The Agreement [2]
Category: Ocean's 8 (2018), Ocean's 8 (2018) RPF
Genre: F/F, Porn With Plot, Smut, because there are good guys out there ppl!, mention of Rooney Mara, mention of a few other actresses, no hate for Andrew, only love and respect, this is RPF so obviously don't take it too seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-07-01 04:00:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15766173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syd/pseuds/syd
Summary: Sandy’s heart beats in her chest, thrumming along to a quick rhythm and she doesn’t know why she’s suddenly nervous because she didn’t do anything wrong, right? Cate left her phone like this, it was almost impossible to not sneak a quick glance with the way both the phone and she herself are positioned on the couch.orSandy sees something on Cate's phone that she isn't supposed to.





	1. “Is this what you wanted?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually really insecure about this story, hope you like it (please be gentle with your comments).

Sandy takes the three metal steps up to the door of Cate’s trailer, then knocks three times to announce her presence. They have forty minutes before they need to be back on set and since the next few days are stuffed with a tight schedule, Cate offered to use their break to run some lines. She waits for the muffled “come in!” before opening the door and stepping into the trailer. It looks the same as her own, with a small couch on one side, a small kitchen corner opposite it and an even smaller dinner table next to the door.

Cate is sitting on the couch, her phone in her hands, quickly typing away on it, before putting it down beside her on the couch and smiling up at Sandy. Closing the door behind her, Sandy steps forward quickly and sits down next to Cate, her script in her hands, already open to the scene they will be filming this afternoon. It only takes them a few minutes to get into the scene, first reading the lines off the script, then going over it again, dissecting it from various points of view.

“Where do you think all of Lou’s anger comes from? Is it jealousy?”

Sandy makes a small humming sound as she thinks over everything she knows about these characters.

“I think the actual question is whether it’s platonic or romantic jealousy. I think if you play it just right, the line between it could be subtle enough for the studio to leave it in.”

Cate hums in agreement, slowly nodding her head before making a few small notes on the side of her script. She gets up then and stretches her arms above her head before stepping over to the tiny kitchen in the corner. It’s actually not more than a small sink above a mini fridge but it’s enough for the short breaks she spends in here.

“Do you want something to drink?”

Sandy watches Cate as she crouches down and opens the fridge, peeking inside and studying the contents before starting to list them off. The quiet sound of a vibrating phone distracts her from the three different types of juice though and her eyes flick to Cate’s phone, that’s still lying on the couch where Cate has left it.

The screen is lit up, a notification visible on the lock screen, partially hiding a photo of Cate’s children and she doesn’t want to invade Cate’s privacy, she really doesn’t, but then she sees that it’s a text and that it’s from Rooney Mara and that there is a small heart and star next to the name and suddenly she is curious. It’s not a conscious decision, Sandy doesn’t even want to know what Cate and Rooney are texting, but the notification shows the beginning of the text message, lighting it up against the slightly dimmed background and Sandy’s eyes flick over it before she can stop herself.

_“Didn’t know you were in NYC. I miss you too, and your tongue especially ;D But sadly I can’t this month, I’m in-”_

The rest is cut off and half a second later the screen goes dark again, hiding Rooney’s name and the emojis and the text message. On one hand Sandy doesn’t care because it really isn’t any of her business, but on the other hand she’s now curious and she’s not sure.. did she really just read what she thinks she read? It was all so fast and half of the message wasn’t even visible, so maybe she got it wrong.

When she looks back Cate is just turning around, still kneeling in front of the mini fridge. She doesn't seem to have caught her glancing at the phone as she’s looking at her all expectantly as if waiting for an answer to a question Sandy didn’t hear. Sandy’s heart beats in her chest, thrumming along to a quick rhythm and she doesn’t know why she’s suddenly nervous because she didn’t do anything wrong, right? Cate left her phone like this, it was almost impossible to not sneak a quick glance with the way both the phone and she herself are positioned on the couch. And it’s not like Sandy was actively invading Cate’s privacy, she just happened to be there, at the wrong place at the wrong time, so to say. So why does she feel like a sinner in church, then?

A few beats pass and Sandy is trying to maintain a neutral expression, not giving anything away. Cate’s eyes flick from Sandy to her phone, seemingly having noticed the small blue light indicating a notification, then glances back again.

“Just water, please.” Sandy finally manages, surprised by her own voice that doesn’t give away any of the thoughts or feelings that are tumbling through her head like socks in the washer. Cate gets up, two bottles of water in her hand, closing the mini fridge and walking the two steps back to the couch. She hands one of the bottles to Sandy, before grabbing her phone off the couch and walking a few more steps to lean against the small dinner table.

She unlocks her phone, quickly reading the text message before pressing the button to turn the screen off again. She lays the phone on the dinner table, opens her water and takes a few sips.

Sandy can’t help but watch her, watch every reaction to the words on the screen, every gesture and feature and twitch of muscle, trying to decipher what Rooney’s text might have meant. But Cate doesn’t give her anything, her face as unimpressed by the text message as if it was a weather forecast and Sandy starts to doubt herself again.

Maybe she misread some words or maybe it wasn’t Rooney who sent the text. Maybe it was from Andrew and Cate just saved his contact under some weird nickname that looks very similar to ‘Rooney Mara’ when you look at it quickly. Or maybe the text didn’t say “tongue” but something completely mundane and innocent, like… some french wine with a weird french name?

It’s the rustling of Cate’s script that brings her back to the present, and she tries to force herself to concentrate on the task at hand.

“Let’s continue with the breakfast scene? The one where Debbie feeds Lou some waffles?”

Sandy nods slowly, an affirmative hum on her lips as she takes her own copy of the script and looks down at it. Reading Debbie’s lines is easy enough but as much as she tries, she has trouble staying focused on the discussion that follows afterwards. With her head reeling and a million thoughts rushing through her mind, her eyes glaze over and Cate’s voice fades into the white noise that’s filling Sandy’s head.

It shouldn’t matter to her what Rooney texted, it’s really none of her business. Whatever is happening between Cate and Rooney is no ones business except Cate’s and Rooney’s.. and maybe Andrew’s? Does Andrew know about.. whatever is going on between Rooney and his wife?

“Sandy?”

With a start her eyes snap up. Cate’s look tells her that she’s been trying to get her attention, probably calling her name a few times before she finally reacted. For a few moments they just look at each other, each trying to find something in the eyes of the other while trying their best not to give anything away. Then Cate looks down and sighs.

“You saw Rooney’s text, didn’t you?”

The words hit her like a train and it takes all of her acting training and her thirty years of experience in the show business to stay calm and collected, at least on the outside. She’s not sure how to react, if she should simply deny it and try to move on as if she hadn’t seen anything. Or maybe she should be honest and just ask what’s on her mind so they can get past this elephant in the room and get back to work. Or maybe she should just leave and sort her thoughts before anything else is said or done that might fracture the friendship the two of them have managed to build over the past few months. They had met before, of course, there’d been award ceremonies and events and shows but it had always been in passing and they hadn’t gotten to really know each other then. Not until about three months ago when they’d first met during the preparations for this movie. Sandy actually really likes Cate and she would hate to lose her as a friend over something as trivial as a text message.

“It’s not what you think.” Cate’s voice is soft and calm and there is no trace of shame or defensiveness, even if the phrase evokes a pavlovian reaction to assume that it is _exactly_ what she thinks. She guesses she has Jesse to thank for that and with a shake of her head she tries to rid herself of his memory and the feeling of hurt that always comes with it.

“It’s none of my business-”, she starts to say because it really isn’t and because she is the last person Cate should feel the need to explain herself to. But Cate interrupts her as she repeats herself with a bit more emphasis this time and her eyes locked intently on Sandy’s. “It’s not what you think, really!”

Silence stretches between them again, both women holding the other’s gaze, trying to read more in them than what’s been said out loud. For some reason Sandy believes Cate and it only fills her with more curiosity.

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Cate”, Sandy says after a few moments. She knows how it is.. this kind of life, constantly under the microscope and in the past thirty years she’s learned to be cautious of not only journalists and fans but of some colleagues as well. You never really know anyone in this business, can never truly trust anyone with delicate information like this and while she would never tell anyone about what she saw, she also wants to offer Cate this escape route.

“I want to.”

With just three words Cate stops her short. Cate seems eager to clear up any confusion and Sandy can’t deny that now, that she allows herself to really think about it, she can hardly control her curiosity. Before she can mentally lose herself in all kinds of questions and possibilities again, she accepts Cate’s offer, one small nod signaling the other woman that she’ll listen to whatever she wants to tell her.

“Andrew and I, we have an arrangement of sorts, an agreement.” Cate’s eyes never leave hers and her voice is soft and low, her Australian accent slightly more pronounced than usual. “We’ve been married for so long, he’s my best friend and my true love and I know that I wanna grow old with him-” Sandy feels the ‘but’ coming and watches as a deep sigh leaves Cate before she continues. “-but there are things he can’t give me.”

It doesn’t take much to understand what Cate is trying to say, especially in combination with Rooney’s text message. Again, she nods, trying to tell Cate that she doesn’t want to interrupt but that she does understand and wants her to continue.

“The most important thing is honesty. I never lie to him or try to hide anything and as long as I only meet women, he’s okay with it.”

This time the silence stretches out between them. It’s quiet for several minutes while Sandy processes what she just heard while studying Cate’s face intently. Cate seems mostly calm and unapologetic but the longer Sandy looks the more she sees the underlying anxiety and she realizes that while Cate isn’t ashamed of the agreement she has with Andrew, she is still nervous about Sandy’s reaction to it.

Sandy’s first instinct is to reassure her, to tell her that she doesn’t have anything to fear, that she would never tell anyone. But then she thinks about how honest Cate has been and how she obviously wanted to share this information with her even though Sandy didn’t ask about it. It confuses Sandy because clearly Cate doesn’t want Sandy’s absolution... but then, what _does_ she want from her?

Cate sits patiently on the dinner table, her hands fiddling with the water bottle, as she watches Sandy watching her, trying to catch her reaction and thoughts. It makes Sandy uncomfortable, to be watched this closely, and she looks away. Her eyes land on the script that still lies in her lap, and on the water bottle that remains unopened in her right hand. Sandy opens the bottle, just to have something to do while her thoughts tumble through her head, and she takes a few sips of the still cold water.

As she slowly screws the cap back on, Sandy formulates a game plan in her mind. Obviously Cate wants to talk about this topic, otherwise she would have accepted Sandy’s offer to just ignore it. And she can’t deny that she is curious, that she has questions. It seems like the most logical way to go is forward.

With a deep breath to gather her thoughts, Sandy looks back up to Cate, who is still watching her.

“So.. how-”

- _does it work? How many women are there? How do you know if a woman is interested? How long have you had this agreement?_ A million questions jump to the front of her mind until she settles on one.

“How often…?”

She’s not usually shy but to be fair, she doesn’t usually find herself in a conversation like this and she trails off, letting her raised eyebrows complete the question.

A small smile grazes Cate’s lips but she doesn’t comment on Sandy’s inability to formulate complete sentences and instead opts to answer the question in a soft and honest voice.

“Not very often.” The hand holding the water bottle gestures around for a bit and there’s a small eye-roll and sigh as she explains further. “Busy schedules and.. you know.. there aren’t many opportunities when there’s always a camera watching you.”

Sandy nods, small and understanding, and now that she has allowed herself one question, all the others quickly line up on her tongue. She wants to know all the details and processes and logistics but most of all, she is interested in one thing.

“Is Rooney the only one?”

Her words fall quickly from her lips and Cate’s answer comes just as swiftly.

“At the moment, yes.”

Sandy hesitates shortly. She knows what she wants to know but she isn’t sure if Cate’s willingness to share will change if she seems too interested. It’s Cate’s still calm and reassuring demeanor that decides for her.

“Who else was there?”

The question is blunt but she doesn’t want to take it back. Of all the things she wants to know, this is what she _needs_ to know. She can’t help the reel that flickers through her mind, of former female co-stars of Cate’s, of friends and other women she seems to have gotten on well with at functions and events. Pictures flash before her eyes, of Cate and Sarah on set, during table reads and dinners and how close they’ve been since the beginning of this production because they’ve been good friends since they’ve done ‘Carol’ together.

“Sarah?”

Cate shakes her head. “We never really worked out and shortly after, she met Holland.”

Cate seems to have said all she wanted or needed to, and Sandy is still processing all this new information. There’s still a lot she wants to know, still a lot of questions burning on her tongue, but in the end there’s one thing that still confuses Sandy the most: Why did Cate feel the need to share all this with her? Did she need someone to talk to and Sandy was just there at the right time? But Cate didn’t really seem troubled at all.

Sandy is still deep in thoughts, her hands fiddling with the water bottle, when her gaze falls to the couch she sits on and the empty space next to her. The empty space where Cate had been sitting and where she’d left her phone when she got up. A penny drops and Sandy’s eyes find Cate’s again, holding her gaze as she mentally connects one puzzle piece after the other and after what seems like several minutes of silently staring at each other, Sandy finally speaks up.

“You planned this, didn’t you?”

It seems so obvious now that she thinks of it and she’s surprised she didn’t see it sooner.

“You wanted me to see Rooney’s text message, that’s why you texted her when I came in earlier. And that’s also why you put your phone right here, like that.”

There is a slight sparkle in Cate’s eyes and the left corner of her mouth lifts in the slightest way. The movement is so small that Sandy wouldn’t have noticed it had she not been studying Cate’s features for the past twenty minutes. Cate doesn’t react to Sandy’s words in any other way, just patiently waits for Sandy to plan and execute her next move, silently watching Sandy, a slight apprehension in her eyes for having put herself on the line like that, not knowing how it would play out.

Sandy feels like she’s been thrown into outer space. With this new realization she lost the ground beneath her feet and she doesn’t know what’s up and down anymore. Slowly she leans forward, her elbows leaning against her knees, moving for the first time since they abandoned their scripts twenty minutes ago. This new position doesn’t bring them closer together though, there are still five feet between them, so she stands up, her eyes never leaving Cate’s.

“Why did you want me to find out?”

The question leaves her lips before she can think about it, although if she’s honest with herself she already knows the answer. Her eyes are still studying Cate’s face intently, looking for any indication of what she might be thinking and when nothing is forthcoming, Sandy slowly starts closing the distance between them, until she finds herself right in front of Cate. She’s never been this close to her before and she marvels at her smooth skin and her crystal blue eyes, that are still holding her gaze, carefully watching every step she makes.

One more step and their legs touch, one of Sandy’s sliding in between Cate’s, not pushing in, just placing it in the empty space she finds there. Her hands come up, gently placing them on Cate’s jawlines, the tips of her pinkies grazing Cate’s neck while her thumbs softly stroke over perfect, alabaster cheeks.

“Is this what you wanted?”

The words are mere whispers in the otherwise silent trailer. A soft sigh escapes Cate’s lips and her eyes seem heavier than before, struggling to stay open as Sandy leans in and lays a gentle kiss on Cate’s lips. Sparks tingle where their lips touch, softly moving against each other. Cate seems to have expected the kiss because her reaction is instantaneous, eager even, as her lips press back against Sandy’s.

Sandy marvels at the softness of Cate’s lips, so different from Bryan’s and for a split second her thoughts drift off to the man she dated until about five months ago. She is glad they broke up, mutually agreeing that they’re better off as just friends. But then Cate’s lips open slightly and her tongue tentatively strokes over Sandy’s bottom lip, silently asking for entrance, and all thoughts for anyone other than Cate vanish instantly.

Sandy can feel Cate’s hands on her waist, her thumbs gently brushing over the thin fabric of her designer dress, sending shock waves through her body, and a soft moan escapes her lips. She doesn’t know how she’s still standing upright because she feels weaker in her knees with every caress of Cate’s tongue on her lip until she finally opens her lips and greets it with her own.

Cate moans at the touch, a hoarse, rumbling sound that Sandy feels deep within her, vibrating through her body and ending between her legs. She can’t remember ever having been this turned on by just a kiss.

A sharp knocking at the door bursts the bubble they’re in and suddenly they find themselves back in Cate’s trailer, quickly breaking the kiss. Sandy leans her forehead against Cate’s, not yet ready to step away completely, as they hear one of the director’s assistants shout through the door.

“Cate, you’re needed on set 12B in five minutes.”

Slowly opening her eyes, Sandy finds herself staring into the stormy blue eyes of Cate. She waits a few beats and when Cate still hasn’t reacted, she raises her eyebrows and nudges her head in the direction of the door, indicating to Cate that she should say something before the assistant gets suspicious and comes in. Blushing slightly, Cate clears her voice before shouting through the door.

“I’ll be right there!”

Sandy’s thumbs stroke softly over Cate’s now rosy cheeks before she places one last, quick kiss to Cate’s lips. She takes a few steps back, forcing her body to calm down and her hands to stop shaking. From her position on the dinner table Cate is beaming at her, a magnificent smile spread over her face and Sandy is sure that she has never seen anything more beautiful in her life.

She brushes her hands down over her dress, then steps over to the couch to retrieve her script, before quickly crossing over to the door and opening it. Cate is still sitting on the dinner table, apparently still frozen in place and following her with her eyes, when Sandy throws Cate a cheeky wink and leaves her trailer. “You coming?”

 


	2. “I think I quite enjoy it when you beg me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, sorry that it took me so long. I started this fic when I was on sick leave and had endless time and then I started working again and suddenly five weeks passed and this chapter got way longer than I thought and.. well.. I hope you like it though :)
> 
> Second of all, this chapter is dedicated to [loumillerlesbian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loumillerlesbian/pseuds/loumillerlesbian) because she is an actual angel who helped me create Cate's sexual history (she knows everything about Gillian, which was super helpful :D). 
> 
> Third of all, thanks to all the lovely ladies on the Discord server for being soo so motivating and encouraging and for kicking my lazy ass into writing. You are the real heroes!

With a relieved sigh on her lips Cate flicks her leg, sending one black high heel flying across the room. She repeats the action with the other one, thankful to finally be able to get out of these shoes. As sexy as they are, they are murder to wear for thirteen hours straight.

A quick glance tells her that it is already past 10pm. The original schedule for this day hadn’t been this long, they should have wrapped filming around 7pm but then some equipment was mucking around and Helena’s hair wouldn’t hold up and by the time they were finally able to continue shooting, it had already been 7.30pm and Cate had been exhausted.

Slowly, Cate makes her way through the living area of her hotel room. There are fresh apples in the basket next to the TV and two new bottles of water on the small couch table. She is thankful that she doesn’t have to worry about tidying up or going outside to do some grocery shopping but at the same time the vast, empty room makes her feel a bit lonely. She envies Sandy, who owns a townhouse in downtown New York, a nice, cozy place in Soho that comes with fluffy little throw pillows and a fish tank full of tiny, colourful fish.

The thought of Sandy immediately brings a small sigh to Cate’s lips. With quick, efficient movements she divests herself of her clothes, throwing them in the general direction of the laundry bag in the corner of her bedroom, then steps into the bathroom and reaches into the shower to turn on the hot water.

It’s been three days since their kiss in Cate’s trailer and even just thinking about it makes Cate’s knees weak. She’s had a few first kisses in her life but the one she shared with Sandy was something else entirely. She wasn’t sure if it’d been the fact that Sandy had taken charge and initiated the kiss, or the way she’d figured out her flimsy plan of seduction or if she was just an exceptionally good kisser, but every time she’d thought of Sandy since then, butterflies started up in her belly again. She feels like a horny teenager, unable to control her emotions, her pulse racing every time Sandy sends a crooked smile her way, and all of that after only one kiss. It becomes more and more difficult for Cate to reign in her desire for this woman, to not crowd her or rush her to make a decision. She doesn’t want Sandy to feel pressured and she wants to show her that, should she refuse Cate’s offer, they can still have a good friendship between them.

She takes a bit longer than usual to step out of the shower again, enjoying the relaxing effect the heat of the water has on her tense muscles. She is endlessly glad that it’s a Saturday the next day and she can’t wait to fall into bed and sleep for the next ten hours. She makes quick work of brushing her teeth and quickly finds an old t-shirt and panties to wear to bed. Then she crawls into bed and takes her phone. She sends a quick text to Andrew, apologizing for not calling when he was still awake and promising to call him the next day, then checks her mails but only answers one from her publicist.

She’s just about to turn off the light and finally let sleep overtake her, when her phone starts vibrating on her nightstand. For a moment she contemplates just ignoring it but curiosity gets the better of her and a second later her eyebrows rise in surprise when she sees Sandy’s name on the display. Quickly she presses ‘Answer’, catching it just before it goes to voicemail.

“Sandy, hey.”

“Hi Cate, is this a bad time?”

Suddenly Cate feels completely awake, the fatigue she felt only seconds before replaced with familiar butterflies and an excited tingle vibrating through her body. She revels in hearing Sandy’s voice, quiet and intimate in her ear, and matches her tone when she replies.

“Not at all, what can I do for you?”

There is a short silence before Sandy speaks again. “I just thought.. that.. maybe we could talk for a bit?”

Her voice is soft and slightly echoed in the background but then it quiets to only a gentle mumble and the echo is gone. Cate isn’t sure if she imagined it in the first place and Sandy’s words quickly distract her from that train of thought. “I mean, only if you don’t mind.. but I think I might have some questions.. about.. what.. you know..”

“About my agreement with Andrew?”

She can’t see Sandy right now but she remembers how cute and flushed she had looked when they’d talked in Cate’s trailer a few days ago. She is well aware that Sandy must have felt out of her comfort zone because she’s never heard her stutter before but all Cate could think about was how absolutely adorable Sandy had looked in that moment. She can imagine her now, probably on her couch in the living room, cuddled up to her fluffy throw pillows, blushing from the tips of her ears to the top of her chest and a small smile instantly grows on Cate’s lips.

“Yes, about that. It’s just that.. I’ve been thinking a lot about it and.. I never.. I dont-”

“Sandy,” with a gentle, soothing voice Cate interrupts Sandy’s rambling. She feels bad for putting her in that position, she never wanted her to feel uncomfortable about this.

“Please don’t feel pressured, not about your answer or when to give it. I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with and I will give you all the time and space and information you want or need.” Sandy takes a deep breath, calming herself, and Cate waits for a short moment before continuing. “The only thing I ask of you is your honesty and I promise to give you the same. This thing, this arrangement, it only works if everyone involved is honest.”

There is only silence coming through for a while and Cate even checks her phone’s display to see if the call is still connected. Then Sandy breathes deeply again before agreeing in a shaky voice: “Okay... and thanks, Cate.”

Sandy sounds relieved and more relaxed as if Cate’s words managed to calm her nerves and a warmth settles over Cate at the thought. When Sandy doesn’t continue though, it’s Cate who speaks up again, her voice quiet and soothing. “So, what do you wanna know?”

“What is it, exactly, that you want from me?”

There is no pause this time and Sandy sounds more sure of herself, as if her need for answers suddenly surpasses her insecurities. The words seem harsh at first but Cate recognizes them as what they really are and gives her answer without hesitation.

“Whatever you are willing to give.”

There is a slight huff on the other end and Cate imagines Sandy rolling her eyes. “I’m serious, Cate. I need to know if you want a relationship.. or if.. if you..”

“If I’m only looking for sex?”, Cate completes Sandy’s obvious question, voicing her uncertainty for her. She could have guessed that this would be one of Sandy’s first questions, it’s always one of the first questions.

A whispered “yes” is all the confirmation she gets, but it’s all she needs. She’ll gladly do most of the talking if it makes Sandy feel more comfortable.

Cate gets slightly frustrated by the distance separating them, that she can’t hold Sandy’s hands or lay her palm on her cheek, that she can’t look into her eyes and tell her nonverbally how honest her words are, how important it is to her that Sandy understands the truth of what she’s about to say.

“I like you, Sandy. A lot. You’re funny and kind and smart and so incredibly beautiful. Whatever you are comfortable and willing to give, I will happily take, even if it’s just your friendship.”

Again, silence fills the connection between them, then Sandy whispers a short “okay” and even though it’s just one small word, Cate can still hear Sandy’s smile through it. This time it doesn’t take long for Sandy to speak up again. “What about the others?”

A confused frown appears between Cate’s eyebrows. “The others?”

“I just.. I mean..” Sandy sounds frustrated, like she doesn’t know how to formulate her thoughts and Cate can hear her drifting off into her insecurities again.

“Hey, it’s okay, you can ask me.” Cate tries to keep her voice as calming as possible, promising in a low and soothing tone. “I won’t judge you.”

It takes a few huffs and sighs and a deep breath before Sandy slowly and haltingly murmurs. “I don’t think I can.. share… after Jesse.”

The words put a stop to all of Cate’s thoughts. She didn’t expect this answer and she feels stupid for it. She should have been prepared for Sandy’s concerns, should have considered the fears she still has to deal with because of Jesse Fucking James. Of course Sandy wouldn’t feel comfortable in a relationship knowing she would have to share her partner, how did Cate not think of that? She never should have propositioned her, never should have put Sandy in that situation in the first place.

It takes a few moments for Cate to find her voice again, so low and endlessly soft, as she replies in a disappointed murmur. “It’s okay, I understand.”

Cate feels like a boulder suddenly weighs her down, because in all the scenarios she’d envisioned, Sandy had always taken her up on her offer. After the kiss they shared Cate didn’t even consider the possibility of Sandy refusing her proposal. She feels a sadness rush through her at this new development, sighing quietly. Rationally she always knew that this could happen and even though she hadn’t expected it, she was still determined to try to be the best friend Sandy could ever ask for.

“No, I mean..” Sandy rushes to correct herself and Cate’s train of thought is momentarily interrupted as she waits for Sandy to explain herself. “I mean.. every time I’d touch you, I’d think of.. of other hands touching you too.. and-” Again, Sandy halters and huffs, obviously having trouble picking the right words and clearly feeling anxious about voicing them to Cate. “-and I thought, maybe.. I mean, I know I can’t ask this of you, but maybe.. could there not be other hands? Touching you, I mean?”

Cate blinks her surprise into the dark room, a stunned silence filling the connection between them and not even a second later sadness replaces the surprise, her chest squeezing painfully as she replies with an apologetic whisper. “Andrew is non-negotiable.”

“I know..” The words are provided quickly, hastened in order to avoid any misunderstandings. “I know. I’m not talking about him.”

The low murmur gives Cate pause and awakens the butterflies in her belly, hope instantly flaring up again.

“Rooney,” Cate doesn’t ask. It seems obvious now that she thinks about it. There is still no confirmation that Sandy is actually agreeing to her proposal but the fact that Andrew seems less of a deal-breaker than Rooney makes Cate hopeful.

Cate thinks of Rooney, of the woman who has shared her bed every few months for almost four years now, the hours spent in her gentle arms, her soothing caresses and soft kisses. Of all her female lovers Rooney has been the gentlest, her escape from the fast and stressful life during the last two years. But then Cate thinks of Sandy and of her bright smile and open arms, of her wise words and funny quips, of the softest lips she’s ever kissed and how heavenly she’d felt when Sandy had stroked her cheeks while her tongue had caressed her own, turning her whole world upside down with just a simple kiss. It isn’t a hard decision to make.

Cate can hear Sandy’s breaths, sharp and quick and slightly anxious, directly in her ear.

“I’ll talk to her, tell her I can’t meet her like that again. She’ll understand.” And she will, of that Cate is certain. Rooney has always been very smart and understanding and most of all, she would want Cate to be happy.

Cate listens intently, trying to gauge Sandy’s reaction but apart from the breathing sounds getting softer and deeper, there is nothing for her to go on. For a while there is a pause in the conversation, as if all the heavy and important points on the agenda have been discussed and the audience needs a short break before continuing with other, lighter topics.

Cate enjoys the soft breathing, a soothing and calming sound in her ear. The silence is comfortable and Cate shuffles slightly on her bed, moving further down into her soft pillow and pulling the blanket up. It feels like several minutes of companionable silence have passend when Sandy speaks up again.

“Cate?”

“Hm?” A calm has settled over Cate and she thinks she can hear a similar relaxation in Sandy’s voice.

“Can I.. may I ask..” Sandy’s voice trails off and Cate can picture her before her inner eye, anxiously gnawing on her lower lip, a crinkle between her eyebrows and a slight bounce in her knee.

“Ask me anything, love.” Cate can hear Sandy swallowing thickly and can only hope it’s from the term of endearment sending a shiver down her spine.

“Who were the other women? And when? How long did you.. were you..?”

Cate is surprised these questions didn’t stumble from Sandy’s lips earlier. She knows that Sandy has probably been driving herself crazy with thoughts of the other women Cate had shared her bed with.

“This is going to take a while.”, Cate warns gently, offering Sandy an option to back out, if she wants to. As curious as Sandy must be, she still wants to make sure that she really wants this much information. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

“That’s okay, I’ve got time.”

There is an obvious smile in Sandy’s voice and even though they can’t see each other Cate nods slightly before taking a deep breath and starting to speak in a low voice.

“Well, it started with one-night-stands, actually. It was such a long time ago, probably 25 years or so. Philippa, my best friend growing up. I know, it sounds so cliché but one night we had too much to drink and one thing led to another. We were in our early twenties, it must have been sometime in the early 90ies. It was fun but come morning we suffered through massive hangovers and we both agreed that we’d rather stay best friends. I never regretted it but I’m also glad we managed to stay friends, even until today.”

Cate takes a short break, waiting to listen if Sandy has a question or wants her to stop and when all she hears is a soft, little hum, she continues on.

“A year or two later I was playing Ophelia in the theatre production of _Hamlet_ in Sydney. Nicole was the costume designer and one night we gave in to the post curtain call high. It didn’t last, she came to me a week later and apologized, said she’d met someone else and wanted to see where it would go. It was kind of a good thing though because only two months later I met Andrew.”

Cate hears a deep breath through her phone and for a moment she isn’t sure if Sandy is bored or annoyed or tired. But then Sandy’s voice filters through, gentle and low and Cate recognizes it as a sign of her listening patiently. “Go on.”

“A few years later I met Gillian Anderson at a party and we hit it off. The party was insane and wild and Gillian was the life of it. It was one of the best nights of my life and it ended in her bedroom. I was reckless back then, got caught up in the moment. I only told her about Andrew and the agreement during breakfast the next morning.”

Cate pauses again, closing her eyes at the memory. She remembers feeling slightly guilty for not telling Gillian earlier but the other woman had quickly assured her that it was fine.

“Luckily she took it really well and even asked if Andrew would agree to more than a one-night-stand. We had a lot of fun but it only lasted four or five months. Like I said, I was reckless back then and Gillian even more so. One night we got drunk and careless and some paparazzis almost caught us. That sobered us up quickly. Gillian wasn’t ready to come out and ended it then and there.”

Even though Sandy can’t see her, Cate starts gesturing with her free hand, unintentionally trying to emphasize her words and emotions. “Honestly, I think it was for the best. I mean, I liked how she made me feel every time we met, crazy and carefree and everything was always so unexpected with her, but in the long run it would have outed us both.”

“Is it okay for you to tell me about her?” Sandy’s voice is barely more than a whisper, matching Cate’s own tone. “I wouldn’t want to invade her privacy like that.”

“It’s okay, she’s fine with it now. I wouldn’t have shared this much detail if she wasn’t.”

Cate thinks of how much Gillian has changed since their early relationship. She didn’t blame Cate for their almost accident with the paparazzis and they did stay friends over the years but it was only recently that Gillian stopped minding what the media thought of her and her relationships.

“So this was when.. the late 90ies?” Sandy’s soft voice brings Cate back to the present. She hums in agreement, trying to remember the exact year but only managing to narrow it down a little. “Yeah, must have been ‘98 or ‘99.”

Cate’s phone beeps then, warning her of its low battery and Cate leans over to her nightstand and grabs the charger, plugging her phone in and getting comfortable with her back against the headrest again. She takes a moment to gather her thoughts, then continues her way down memory lane, relaying the details in a low, calm voice.

“I got pregnant with Dash in 2001 and shortly after with Roman, so nothing happened for a while. The boys kept me on my toes and I was so busy, I didn’t even think about anyone else but them for years. Not until the second _Elizabeth_ movie, I think it was in 2006. Abbie Cornish and I had a few scenes-”

“Yeah, ‘ _a few_ ’ scenes. I remember them.”

Sandy interrupts her and Cate can clearly hear the quotation marks in her voice and the smirk on her lips. She is surprised, her eyebrows rising and she asks in a curious tone. “You saw the movie?”

Sandy’s immediate answer is a quiet snort. “Who didn’t? You were soo good in it. I mean, really fantastic.”

Cate feels the heat of a blush creeping up on her cheeks. She’s been complimented a lot of times, but hearing this slightly off-hand compliment from Sandy, the obvious way she says it, as if nobody would ever question the statement, the same as nobody would ever question water being wet, it sends a tingle through Cate. She can feel the blood pulsing through her and she swallows a small moan, trying to ignore what it was brought on by.

“Anyways,” Cate croaks, then quickly clears her throat. She really can’t go there right now, she can’t have Sandy know what her words do to her. “Abbie’s flirting didn’t stop after shooting was done for the day and after a while I started to reciprocate. She was cute and funny and smart, and then, one evening, it just happened. We had sex in my trailer. It was.. it was the first time in almost ten years for me and it was amazing. But god, she was so young-”

Cate’s voice falters then. Her eyes fall shut and for a moment Cate is trapped in the old feeling of guilt that resurfaces within her.

“I’d done ‘ _Notes On A Scandal_ ’ only a year earlier and it felt a bit too real for me. She was barely 24 years old, I was 38.” Cate lets the words rest between them for a moment, feels the burning shame in her chest as she remembers the age difference between them. When she starts talking again, her voice is even quieter than before. “Once the endorphins settled down, I felt ashamed. It felt so wrong- it still feels wrong! I told her right then that this couldn’t happen again. I think her anger about that is clearly visible in one of the scenes at the end of the movie.”

Rationally Cate knows that this isn’t as bad as her memory makes it out to be, that she didn’t seduce a child, like her character in _‘Notes On A Scandal’_ did, but her guilty mind doesn’t care and pushes memories to the forefront of her mind. Pictures of Abbie’s young face, make-up making it look even younger for the movie, of Abbie’s beautiful eyes connecting with Cate’s from between her legs, of the bitter anger she threw at Cate when she broke it off. Cate opens her eyes, trying to bring herself back to the present.

For a while silence hangs between them. Abbie’s spiteful words haunt her, keep her in a hold and it’s only Sandy’s voice that manages to break her out of it.

“She was an adult and she consented. You didn’t do anything wrong, Cate.”

With a slight shake of her head Cate rids herself of her thoughts and after a deep breath she raises her voice again. “Yeah, I know.” She’s not sure she agrees completely but she also doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, so she lets it go, takes another deep breath and moves on.

“I met Amy Adams at the Oscars in 2008. We quickly became friends, more than that even, we just clicked. I felt so connected to her, it was unbelievable. We flirted constantly but I was pregnant with Iggy at the time so nothing happened, then after he was born I took some time off to stay at home with him.”

The thought of her third son brings a small smile to Cate’s lips. She rolls to her side and pulls the blanket up, covering herself in its soft warmth.

“When Iggy was a year old, Amy was already engaged to Darren so I didn’t even consider asking her for more than her friendship. But then she let slip that they both have one of those lists, you know, a freebie-list of people you’re allowed to have sex with. Apparently I was on hers. Initially they made the lists as a joke but a year after the Oscars she talked to Darren and he was fine with her and me.. you know, having more than just a friendship. So I told her about Andrew and the agreement and we started a relationship.“

Cate thinks back to her first kiss with Amy. They’d known each other for almost two years at the time so their first kiss felt very familiar already. It was nothing like her first kiss with Sandy had been, it didn’t leave her as breathless and aroused. She revels in the memory of Sandy’s kiss for a second, then shakes herself out of it, not wanting to get turned on right now.

“Andrew and I became good friends with the two of them. Amy and I had a really good friends-with-benefits thing going for several years. Then, in 2012, I ran into Gillian again. She was fresh out of a relationship and we reconnected. We were more careful this time. I was with both her and Amy from 2012 to 2015. They both knew of each other, of course, and were okay with it. This was about having fun, after all, not about falling in love.”

Cate grows quiet. She wishes she could see Sandy, watch her face as she hears all these things and gauge her reaction. She wants Sandy to know that this arrangement actually works, that Amy and Gillian and her had a good time because they’d always been in agreement of what it was they shared with each other. But at the same time she wants to reassure Sandy that this isn’t necessarily what she expects of her as well. She would be thrilled if Sandy agreed to a friends-with-benefits relationship with her, but if she doesn’t feel comfortable with it, she would also feel honored to just have her friendship.

But before she can voice any of this, Sandy speaks up herself. “Until 2015.. because of Edith?”

Sandy’s words move the story along and her voice suggests no confusion or worries like Cate had feared. With a smile Cate lets her worries dissipate.

“Yes. I wanted to take a break to focus on Edith for a few months. Amy and Darren had set their date for May and Amy said she didn’t want to continue our relationship after getting married so we decided to end it in February 2015, just before Edith came into my life. Gillian, on the other hand, was fine with a temporary break and we continued seeing each other eight months later. Not for long though, because she began seeing Peter a year later.”

Cate grows quiet, rolling to lie on her back again. She quickly glances at her phone and sees that it’s almost midnight and even though she’d felt exhausted and already half-asleep when she’d entered the hotel room two hours ago, she has been wide awake since she started talking to Sandy. Cate knows she’s almost finished telling about her exes but she hopes their conversation will go on for a bit longer. She doesn’t want to say ‘Good Night’ to Sandy yet, she enjoys her voice in her ear, intimate and low.

“And Rooney?”, Sandy asks. Cate tries to read more from the two words, needing to know what Sandy is thinking. She wonders if there is jealousy in Sandy’s tone but in the end she can’t hear anything but honest interest and Cate hates to admit that she feels a tiny bit disappointed by it.

“I’ve been seeing Rooney since early 2014, since halfway through filming _‘Carol’_. We took a temporary break of eight months because of Edith, just like I did with Gillian.”

For the third time this evening silence stretches between them. Cate imagines Sandy going over all the information she just received and gives her the time and space to do so. After a few minutes Sandy’s voice breaks the silence again. “Do they all know about each other?”

“Amy asked me once and I told her the same I just told you. And of course Gillian knows about Amy. The others never asked and I didn’t offer to tell.” Cate would never lie about something like this but she doesn’t just provide this kind of information either. She knows that information like this needs to be handled very carefully in her profession.

Cate remembers a conversation she once had with Gillian, a few years ago, about this exact topic, but her thoughts are interrupted by the surprising noise of something liquid splashing around sounding through the earpiece of her phone. For a moment she isn’t quite sure if the phone is altering the noise, making it sound like something it isn’t, but then the unmistakable sound of rushing water hits her ear. For about a minute it drowns out every other noise, then it shuts off suddenly.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that Sandy must be near a body of water and going by the slight echo that accompanies the splashes of water, she’d say Sandy is currently in the bathroom. She waits a few moments longer, listening for anything that might tell her what exactly Sandy is doing, but nothing is forthcoming. With her curiosity now peaked, Cate breaks the silence with a hesitant murmur. “Sandy?”

“Hm?” Sandy sounds utterly relaxed, her questioning hum ending in a content, soft sigh.

“Where are you right now?” Cate’s brain is in overdrive, adapting her mental image of Sandy with every new sound filtering through the phone. Gone is the picture of Sandy lounging on the couch with a throw pillow on her lap, replaced instead with a picture of her dressed in a fluffy robe, standing in front of her bathroom mirror, her face fresh and wet from having just washed it.

Sandy’s voice is so soft and calm when she answers and there are little splashes of water in the background. “I’m taking a bath.”

It’s only four words but Cate’s breath hitches at the images flooding her mind’s eye: Sandy lying naked in her bathtub, her hair pinned up to keep it dry. She must be sitting up a little bit, probably leaning one elbow against the tub’s edge to keep the phone pressed against her ear, the surface of the water barely reaching her chest. Uninvited and unrelenting the image develops further, showing Sandy sighing a deep, relaxing breath, her chest heaving and showing wet, dark nipples, covered in foamy suds.

Cate whimpers, a soft, shaky moan escaping her lips. Her arousal has been growing for a while now, fueled by Sandy’s voice in her ear and the memory of their kiss and it takes all of her concentration to keep it under control. She forces herself to breathe deeply and think of something else, then clears her voice and tries to sound as unaffected as possible as she says: “That sounds nice.. good.. sounds very relaxing.”

She isn’t sure how well she managed, though, because Sandy doesn’t react for a while, and Cate starts to get nervous. She berates herself for not having a better grip on her emotions and contemplates just ending the call, getting some distance between them so she wouldn’t say anything inappropriate by mistake, when Sandy’s words cut through the hazy fog in her mind. “Are you picturing me naked, Cate?”

The words send her reeling and there’s a sudden throbbing between her legs at the husky sound of Sandy’s voice. A pained sound breaks through her tightly pressed lips, a mix of a whimper and a groan and Cate’s free hand flies to her mouth. How did she end up in this situation? She promised she wouldn’t lie to Sandy but she can’t tell her the truth either. What would Sandy think of her, first promising her time and space to make up her mind at her own pace, then picturing her naked not even two hours later?

Before she can find any words and the strength to vocalize them, Sandy speaks again, her voice raspy and hoarse. “You’re picturing me, aren’t you, Cate? Naked in my bathtub, covered in bubbles and foam?”

Cate’s breath quickens and her eyes close in a reflex as the pictures return to her mind’s eye, brought on by Sandy’s words and throaty voice. She wants to tell her that she’s sorry, that she wants her to stop talking and that she wants her to go on, all at the same time but all she manages is her name, a silent moan accompanying the single word. “Sandy-”

“What if I told you there are no more bubbles, Cate? They all burst an hour ago..” Sandy’s voice is stronger now, more confident and Cate swallows hard at how dominant it makes her sound. It’s not an order but her words make it sound like an invitation, offering images of naked skin, wet and slick, curves in all the right places. In a desperate attempt to conceal her groan, Cate bites her own lip, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and fisting the sheets in a vice grip.

“Cate?”

The name is more of an order than a question, demanding a response, but at the same time Cate can hear a smirk in Sandy’s voice and she can see the knowing smile on her lips and the naughty twinkle in her eyes. Hearing her name like this, an order rolling off of Sandy’s lips, arouses her instantly and she feels a familiar wetness between her legs. With a laboured breath she answers Sandy, a croaked whisper in the otherwise silent room. “Yes?”

“Where are you right now?”

It’s clear now, that Sandy is enjoying this greatly, enjoys teasing Cate, playing with her like this. Her voice grows more dominant with every word and it sends thrills through Cate’s body. She still can’t manage more than a raspy whisper, torn between the shame of getting caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar and the desperate need to follow Sandy’s command, verbally bowing to her order. “I’m in bed.”

“What are you wearing?”

Cate knows where Sandy is going with this and can’t help the small whimper from escaping her lips. Are they really doing this? Sandy hasn’t agreed to any sexual relationship yet but clearly it’s not her who has doubts about what they are doing. Cate has always known Sandy to be strong and independent, confidently strutting through life and even though she found a stuttering, blushing Sandy highly endearing, it has always been her confidence and strong spirit that she found most arousing.

“Old T-Shirt and panties.” Maybe Cate should feel ashamed of how short-spoken and breathless she sounds, but she doesn’t think Sandy disapproves of her submissive side, if her low, appreciating hum is anything to go by.

“You got your glasses nearby?” There is a slight tremble in Sandy’s words and Cate is relieved to hear that she isn’t the only one affected by their little game. She turns her head to the side and quickly finds her glasses lying on the bedside table. With dry lips and a short breath she answers Sandy in the affirmative, the short, raspy “Yes” barely loud enough to travel the distance. “Put them on.”

This time it’s definitely a command, both her words and her steely voice not leaving any room for question. Cate can feel her face burning from a blush, embarrassed by how turned on she is from hearing Sandy talk to her like this. She grabs the glasses and slips them on, then forces the words out, her voice a hoarse croak. “They’re on.”

“Good, very good. I like the way they look on you.” It’s almost as if Sandy was there, right beside her, murmuring the words into her ear, her hot breath teasing Cate’s overheated skin, sending a cold shiver down her spine and even if Cate had used all of her will power she wouldn’t have been able to suppress the shaky whimper from slipping from her lips. “Now.. tell me more about your panties, Cate. Are they lacy? Black?”

With an iron grip on her phone, so she won’t miss a single, breathy word from Sandy, Cate looks down on herself, eyeing her underwear with a hooded gaze. When did it get so hard to form coherent words? She is just about to force out her answer, when Sandy speaks up again, her voice sounding like liquid sex. “Are they wet, Cate?”

With a deep moan stuck in her throat, Cate’s eyes roll back into her head. She doesn’t have to check, doesn’t need to slip her fingers between her legs to know that not only are her panties wet, they are thoroughly soaked. She can’t remember how to form words anymore but Sandy doesn’t seem to mind too much, because she just keeps talking, obviously encouraged by Cate’s needy moan. “Oh, I bet they are.. you are so wet right now, aren’t you, Catie?”

“Oh god, Sandy-” The whispers slip from her mouth without her consent. She can feel the heavy throb of her clit, pulsing with the racing beat of her heart. She can’t remember ever having been this aroused without even having been touched. Her hip thrusts up in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the tension, only meeting empty air. Cate lets go of the sheets beside her and kicks the blanket off her legs before slowly moving her hand down her body, when Sandy’s voice sounds in her ear again. “You’re not touching yourself without my permission, are you, Catie?”

A desperate sob escapes her lips but Cate stills her hand obediently. “Please.. please!” Cate is blubbering and she’s not sure what she is pleading for. How did Sandy manage to reduce her to a begging, incoherent mess, with just a few words spoken over the phone? Sandy’s low chuckle vibrates through her. “So needy.. I think I quite enjoy it when you beg me.”

“Nnngh-” A pained whine breaks through the harsh panting. Cate knows that Sandy wouldn’t know if she touched herself, that she is miles away and can’t see her, but there’s something in Sandy’s voice, in the way she speaks to her, that makes her want to obey her. If Sandy decided to end their call without giving her permission to come, Cate would lie awake all night, a painful throb between her legs, suffering and waiting for Monday morning when she would finally see her again, would finally be able to beg for her permission again.

“Take off your shirt, Cate, and your panties too.”

The words haven’t even fully formed yet but Cate is already gripping the hem of her T-shirt, roughly pulling it up and over her head, her phone still held tightly in her hand. Quickly her hands find the thin fabric of her panties and push them down her long legs, then kicking them off. The cool air of the room hits her overheated skin as she lies back down again, eagerly pressing the phone to her ear. Cate doesn’t confirm the action verbally as Sandy obviously heard the rustling of the fabric and speaks before Cate can find any words. “Very good. Now, lay your phone down next to your head and put it on speakers. I want you to listen to me.”

Without hesitation Cate does as she’s told, then lies back down, nodding in confirmation. “I’m listening.”

“Good. Don’t touch yourself. Fold your hands over your stomach, don’t move them from there. I want you nice and dripping when I finally allow you to touch yourself.”

The words hold a promise that sends goosebumps over hard nipples and a rush of wetness between her legs. Through the speakers of her phone she can clearly hear Sandy’s harsh pants and the thought that she isn’t unaffected either makes Cate’s head reel.

“Where are your hands, Cate?” The way Sandy says her name sends goosebumps down her arms and Cate bites her lip, trying to get back some much needed control. Unconsciously she flexes her fingers, scratching her nails over the sensitive skin just beneath her breasts, where her hands lay folded over each other. She feels the unexplainable need to please Sandy, to be as obedient as possible, as she confirms with a whisper. “Folded on my stomach.”

“Good girl. Now, close your eyes and picture me.“

With her eyes closed and concentrated on following the orders, Cate nods her consent, eager to catch every whisper out of Sandys mouth.

“I’m lying in my bathtub, but its only slightly more than half full. The water barely reaches my breasts. When I move around a bit, the warm water reaches my nipples, then leaves them wet in the cool air. They’re hard, they want attention.”

The picture in Cate’s head changes with every detail Sandy gives her and when she mentions her nipples Cate swallows a whimper, afraid of making too much noise and missing a word out of Sandy’s mouth.

“Do you like what you’re seeing?” Sandy sounds out of breath, as if she’s struggling to maintain a steady flow of words, and it drives Cate insane that she can’t see the deep flush that must cover her face and chest.

Cate’s right hand is tightly gripping her left wrist, keeping herself from moving her hands as eager words spill from her lips, the only way she allows herself to loosen the restraints she put upon herself. “Yes, god yes!”

“Then show me, let me hear your voice, Cate. I wanna hear you moan.”

A small moan shows Cate’s consent, her willingness to obey and Sandy seems satisfied enough as she speaks up again soon after.

“My left hand is traveling down my body, slowly, so, so slowly. I imagine it’s your hand, Cate, and it burns every inch where it touches my skin.. fuck, Cate!”

This time Cate doesn’t even think about suppressing the deep, raw moan. Instantly her mental image changes. Sandy is no longer touching herself. Instead it’s her own hands that are touching her and she feels her resolve slipping, overtaken by an immense need to feel touched, to imagine Sandy’s hands on her body and feel them as she trails her own fingers down her neck.

“I finally reach my breasts, I palm the right one and squeeze it. It feels good to lightly scratch my nails over it and run circles around my nipple, then over it.. god, Cate, it feels so good.”

“Fuck, Sandy, please!” Her nails are digging into her left wrist in a last attempt to keep herself from breaking and the desperation in her voice must be obvious because Sandy finally relents a bit. “Do you wanna join me, Cate?”

She wants to say “yes” but her brain is reduced to only remembering one thought and she voices it in a needy chant. “Pleasepleaseplea-”

“Touch your breasts, play with your nipples. Tell me what feels best.”

Cate’s hands are like lightning, there is nothing slow about this. Her fingers find her nipples immediately, letting her nails scratch over them, before palming her breasts and kneading them. She feels her pebbled nipples beneath her palms and her hips cant off the bed, a guttural moan vibrating through the room. She wants to tell Sandy what she’s doing, what gives her the most pleasure but as hard as she tries, she feels incapable of forming words. Sandy lets her disobedience slip and Cate notices a noticeable strain in her voice when she starts talking again.

“God, I’m so wet, Cate.  I’m all sticky despite the water. I don’t wanna wait any longer, I move my hands down, over my belly button. Don’t move your hands from your breast yet, Cate, you hear me?”

When Cate answered her phone a few hours ago she never thought she’d get to listen to Sandy talk about how wet she is and hearing those words now, groaned into her ear, Sandy’s voice husky and raw, her breath quick and heavy, Cate loses her last coherent thoughts, leaving nothing but the unbroken need to follow Sandys commands. “Yess, yes fuck, Sandy!”

“It’s ok, Cate, it’s gonna be so good, I promise, just be patient. Can you picture me? My hand is under the water now, my fingers are trailing up my thigh, mhm Cate.. I’m so slick!”

“Fuck!” Cate’s fingers start getting rough, pinching her nipples hard to relieve the pressure between her legs that she can’t reach. Her hips are rolling in a steady rhythm, looking for friction that isn’t there.

“I like to - start off with - with spreading the wetness - ngh yes - like to feel how aroused I am - fuck, Cate -  you wanna do that too right now? Feel how wet I am?” Sandy sounds like she is fast approaching her orgasm and losing the hold of her string of thoughts. All Cate can think about is how much she wants to join her, how much she needs Sandy’s fingers between her legs, as she answers with a raspy groan. “Fuck yes, please yes, Sandy, please, I need-”

Before her inner eye Sandy starts sliding her fingers through her folds, her head thrown back against the edge of the tub, her eyes squeezed shut and breath coming in short, panty breaths. Cate would do anything to be there with her at that moment, to be able to kiss her and touch her, to dip her head under the water and use her tongue to help spead the slickness. She is craving the taste of Sandy, of her lips and her skin and her pussy and her throat gets dryer with every phoney moan she hears from her mobile.

“My clit is pulsing - throbbing so hard - but I’m not touching it - not yet. Oh god, Cate, it feels so good, fuck - I’m teasing everywhere else - I’m dipping lower again, into my - into my folds. Fuck, Cate, I’m so ready - could push two fingers inside me - easily.”

The words send a fresh wave of arousal through Cate and she feels her wetness trickle down her skin, tickling her folds, then dripping onto the crisp, white hotel sheets. Her fingers knead her breasts with a vigor and Cate is sure she’ll have bruises all over them for the next few days.

“Fuck, Sandy, please I can’t-”

Her desperation is quickly morphing into a frustrated cry and she doesn’t even care. Her sense of embarrassment left her a long while ago, reducing her to a sobbing, desperate mess in dire need of an orgasm. Sandy’s moans fill the room and for a split second Cate fears that Sandy is too far gone to care about her needs.

“How.. how wet are you, Cate?” A relieved sob escapes her before she quickly answers the question, not wanting to prolong the waiting time unnecessarily. “Dripping on the sheets, please please, can I touch myself, please?”

There is a splashing sound in the background and a breathy moan, before Cate finally hears the words she was hoping for. “Yes, touch yourself!” Within half a second her right hand has abandoned her nipple and slid down to settle on her wet folds, her fingers instantly dipping in between to gather her juices. A deep, raw moan resonates through the room when her slippery fingers finally touch her clit, shortly gliding over it before settling into a strong, fast circling motion around it.

“Talk to me, Cate,” Sandy’s words reach through the fog in her mind. The electric sensation running through her body amplifies at the sound of Sandy’s voice and another loud moan escapes her. “Tell me - tell me what you’re doing!”

She wants to follow her orders, wants so desperately to please Sandy and tell her how her fingers flick quickly around her clit, how her nails occasionally graze over it and how the mental imagine of Sandy’s fingers unraveling her bit by bit drive her to the edge of insanity, but when she opens her mouth to voice all this, a shuddery moan is the only thing she manages to form.

“Fuck, Cate - your moans - sound so hot - they turn me on - so much - I’m.. I’m rubbing my clit now - fuck yes!” The thought of Sandy getting aroused by her moans, of Sandy thinking of her while masturbating in the bathtub, it brings Cate to the brink of her orgasm. She can still see her before her inner eye, a slight sheen of sweat now covering her forehead and chest, with her hand beneath the surface of the water moving in quick and jerky motions, causing the water to splash around the tub. “Tell me - how you like it - how you like  - to be touched!”

It’s hard for Cate to form a coherent sentence in her mind, but she slows her fingers to a gentle tease and moves them away from her clit. The hazy fog in her head slowly clears and permits more little details to reach her brain: the short, hard pants of Sandy’s breath, the strain in her voice when she speaks, the splashing sounds of water and the echoing sounds of her moans. “Ngh.. Sandy.. oh god oh god-”

Cate can’t remember ever having been in such a desperate need of an orgasm and the fact that she can’t even see Sandy, that Sandy hasn’t even touched her, brings a new gush of wetness from her pussy.

“Tell me, Cate!”

Sandy’s voice is demanding and strong and Cate knows that she won’t tolerate silence any longer. A shaky whimper fills the room, then Cate swallows thickly and concentrates on stringing a few words together. “Small circles - steady - quick.”

This time it’s Sandy who can’t suppress a needy, husky moan, though she quickly recovers and speaks up again, her breathy groan underlining the harsh breaths. “Yes - that’s good - so good.” Cate imagines Sandy with her eyes closed and her head thrown back. She longs to see the look of pleasure on her face, wants to know if there is a wrinkle between her eyebrows and how much her pupils are dilated.

“Cate-” Already back on the fast lane approaching her climax, Cate slows her fingers as she hears Sandy calling for her attention. She hums in question, signaling that she is still listening, then concentrates on the sounds filtering in through the phone. “I want - you to stop - take your hand away-” _Nononono please don’t please I need to-_ “put your fingers - in your mouth - taste yourself!”

 _Oh god!_ Behind closed lids Cate’s eyes roll up and to the back of her head, her body arching with a surge of heat and arousal that chases through her body. Her hand is sticky and shaking as she lifts it and brings it to her mouth. Her tongue flicks out in reflex and soon her lips have engulfed her three middle fingers, greedily sucking and licking them clean, unraveling at the salty-sweet taste that explodes on her tongue. The sloppy sounds of tongue and lips and the deep raspy moan that forms inside her hollowed out cheeks draws a string of curses from Sandy.

“Fuck fuck Cate - so hot - can hear you - picture you - so good - the way you - follow my orders - good girl!”

The words send a thrill through her veins. Her clit is pulsing and aching, straining for attention, twitching as Sandy’s approval rolls through her body. A choked moan, that almost sounds like Sandy’s name, is her only response, barely audible with her fingers still between her lips.

“Rub your clit again - quick small circles - yesss, baby - just like that!” With Sandy’s words guiding her hand it only takes a moment for Cate to be back on the edge of her climax again. She can hear her getting more and more breathless and in the very back of her mind she’s impressed with Sandy’s ability to still form words and commands.

“This is so good - fuck Cate - pushing two fingers - inside - fuck - thumb on my clit - so slick, Cate - feels so good!” Sandy is rambling now, clearly only a few seconds away from coming herself and the thought of her fingering herself almost undoes Cate. She imagines her own fingers inside Sandy, of feeling her wetness engulf her, her muscles squeezing her fingers, her whole body jerking as she rubs her g-spot. Her own fingers are drawing frantic circles around her clit, the nail of her middle finger teasing across it at every second turn and the combination of her fingers and the knowledge of Sandy fucking herself while thinking of her, brings her dangerously close to coming.

“I’m gonna - fuck, Sandy - I’m gonna come!”

She’s not sure how she managed to formulate words but she knows that she needs Sandy’s approval to come, needs her to give her permission, that she needs to hear Sandy call her ‘good girl’ one more time before she can let the orgasm wash through her.

“No - not yet - hold it off!” There is an urgency in Sandy’s voice, a strict command that Cate doesn’t dare to defy even though she has no clue how to stop her body from just tumbling over the edge. “Please please - can’t - so close - please San-”

In a last resort she stops all movements of her fingers for two seconds, waits for the pressure to subside a bit, before continuing her ministrations. Cate feels tears streaking down the side of her face and strains to listen to every little sound she can hear.

On the other end of the line the sounds of splashing water have increased and Cate can picture the water sloshing in the tub as Sandy’s hand is quickly thrusting beneath it.

“Such a good girl - keep rubbing - fuck - I‘m close too!” Obediently Cate keeps up the motions of her hand, rubbing herself, throwing herself towards her climax, knowing that Sandy wants them to come together. “Please, oh god!”

The tingling feeling around her clit is getting strong again and Cate doesn’t know if she’ll manage to ward her orgasm off once more. She’s pleading in a whispery chant, begging for permission, when Sandy’s raspy babbling turns to words again.

“Yes yes - fuck Cate - I’m coming - come with me - come now!”

It’s like a dam is suddenly bursting as wave after wave of pleasure courses through her. Cate’s body arches off the bed with her head thrown back and a loud, drawn-out cry of pleasure on her lips. Somewhere far away, through the hazy fog of pleasure, Cate hears Sandy’s strangled groan, mixed with plenty of _Fuck_ ’s, _Yes_ ’s and _Cate_ ’s.

It takes a while for all the sounds to come back to her and when they do, for a while only heavy breathing can be heard, accompanied by small whimpers and moans, as they both bask in the aftershocks coursing through their bodies. Cate carefully takes her hand away from her still buzzing clit and wipes the fingers on the bed sheets beside her. They’re ruined anyways, she’ll have to sleep on the other side of the king sized bed tonight.

“Cate?” Sandy’s voice is a whisper. It’s like a switch was flipped and instead of a dominant, strong voice Cate hears uncertainty and fear laced in that one word. She imagines Sandy coming down from her high and realizing what they’d just done. They both know that they crossed a line when Sandy still hadn’t even agreed to a sexual relationship.

With only a little fumbling Cate manages to pick up her phone where it lies beside her head, turn off the speakers and hold it to her ear. “Yes, I’m here.” Cate’s voice feels dry and raspy, a slight tremble still left over from one of the strongest orgasms she remembers ever having had.

“I’m sor-” “Don’t apologize, Sandy, there is no need. I enjoyed it, it was amazing.” Cate quickly interrupts Sandy, then waits for a beat, listening to the deep breath she can hear through the phone. “Thank you for allowing this.. and Sandy?”

“Yes?”

“If that was all you’re willing to give, that’s fine.” The thought of never getting to touch Sandy, of never tasting her lips, her body, her pussy, it’s painful to think about. But she meant what she’d said; the last thing she wants is for Sandy to feel uncomfortable or to lose her as a friend. “Please don’t feel pressured into doing anything you don’t want.”

“I do want you!” Her heart skips a beat at hearing the conviction in Sandy’s words. There is no doubt or uncertainty in her voice and it makes a smile appear on Cate’s lips. _God, I want you too, so badly!_ The thought shoots through her mind but she refrains from speaking it out loud. She can feel that Sandy isn’t finished, that she is once again struggling to find the words and Cate wants to give her the silence to do so.

“I just.. I need-”, Sandy cuts herself off with an exasperated sigh. Cate can hear her anxiety, her doubts about the agreement and she really hopes that her marital status won’t be what will eventually keep them apart. When after some time Sandy still hasn’t spoken up again, Cate decides to try to help her along. “What do you need, Sandy?”

“Would it be okay to talk to Andrew about this?” The words come out in a rush, as if she’s afraid Cate might be offended by this question. She isn’t offended though, just surprised. For a moment she can do nothing but let the words sink in. Sandy is the first woman to ask this, all the others were quite happy with ignoring Andrew’s existence all together - with the exception of Amy, of course, who only ignored his existence when Cate and she had sex.

Cate’s silence goes on for longer than she’d intended and soon Sandy speaks up again. “It’s just.. I know what it feels like.. on the other side, I mean, and - and I believe you when you say he’s fine with it and I don’t wanna offend you or him or-”

“Yes, sure.” Cate interrupts Sandy’s rambling, quickly assuring her that her silence wasn’t to be understood as a negative answer. “Of course, that’s a good idea, yes.”

Sandy releases a shaky breath, obviously relieved to hear Cate’s response. “Yeah? Okay, good. Maybe we can all get together? The three of us?”

Cate feels elated. The fact that Sandy is willing to try, that she is trying to reconcile the fact of Cate’s marriage with her own past and experiences makes her hopeful in regards to their relationship. “Of course, Sandy, anything! The kids have a few days off school next week and Andrew is taking them to visit me. I’m sure we’ll find some time to talk privately.”

For a few moments Cate listens to Sandy’s breathing, slowly ebbing out and eventually settling in a calm, deep rhythm. She smiles in a soft, gentle way, thinking of Sandy, who is still lying in the bathtub, the water now probably gone cold.

“Tell me the dates, then you two can come over for dinner. I don’t wanna do this in your hotel room or some restaurant.” Sandy’s voice has lowered and is now a mere whisper, as if all the high emotions and feelings have settled down inside her and her voice is trying to step in line with them.

For the first time since answering the phone that evening Cate feels a tiredness settle upon her. She rattles off the dates of her family’s visit, dates she knows by heart because she’s been looking forward to it for weeks now, and they agree to set a dinner date as soon as they’ve had the chance to look over their shooting schedules.

Exhaustion is pulling at her seams and a quick look on her phone’s display shows the reason for it : 1:14am. Cate can hear Sandy getting tired as well, her words coming slower and gentler and without having to say so, they both know that their evening together has come to an end.

“Cate?” Sandy’s voice pipes up once again and Cate responds with a low hum. “I can’t wait to finally touch you, smell you.. to taste you.”

“Oh god..” The words send a thrill through her tired body, waking her up slightly with the image they paint in her mind. She knows that Sandy did it on purpose, that she is teasing her, knowing fully well what she’s doing to Cate and a tiny moan slips from her lips.

“Sleep well, Cate. We’ll see each other on Monday, alright?”

With a deep breath and a slight chuckle Cate pushes the images from her mind. She is too tired to think of that right now. “Alright, good night, Sandy.”

Sandy ends the call and Cate listens to the monotone signal for a second before switching off her phone. She lays it on the nightstand and rolls to the other side of the bed, where the sheets are still dry and clean. Her eyes fall shut instantly and a minute later she is already fast asleep, pictures of Sandy between her legs, eating her out with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, haunting her dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to hit me up on [Tumblr](http://inthetardis-asitshouldbe.tumblr.com/).


	3. “The most important things are honesty and trust.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandy meets with Cate and Andrew to talk through their agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so I usually don't do this because I hate cliffhangers and abrupt endings but this chapter is already at more than 11k words and I'm not even done yet. And if there's anything I like even less than cliffhangers and abrupt endings, it's 10+k-word-chapters bc who even has time to read that much in one go, lbr?!  
> also, I wanted to post at least something tonight since I will be back in the hospital tomorrow and don't know yet when I'll get to write/post again afterwards.  
> so yeah, that's why I decided to split this chapter. In this first part there will be no smut because that's all in the second part (slipping that spoiler in here so you guys have a reason to come back and read more :D).

“This was delicious, Sandra, simply amazing.” Andrew is leaning back in his chair, a hand landing on his belly. A big smile is gracing his features as his other hand reaches for his glass to take a sip of wine. “You must tell me your recipe, I don’t think I’ve ever had a lasagne that tasted as good as this one.”

To his right and across from her Cate is nodding in agreement, dabbing her mouth with a white napkin. She sends a wide smile in her direction and Sandy feels a slight blush spreading across her cheeks. 

They’ve just finished dinner, having enjoyed a nice, easy conversation all through it. Sandy had to admit that Andrew is an amazing guy; nice and educated, very down to earth and with a good sense of humor. Under different circumstances she could see herself becoming very good friends with him.

“Thanks, I’m sure you’re exaggerating.” Sandy scoots back her chair and starts gathering up the plates on the table. Cate motions to help her but Sandy quickly shoots her down, taking the empty plate from her hands. “Sit down, Cate, you’re my guest. I will just quickly..”, she trails off, nodding her head towards the kitchen to non-verbally finish the sentence. 

With all the plates and cutlery in her hands Sandy hurries into the kitchen, setting everything down on the counter, then quickly grabs the apple pie she’s prepared in advance and returns to the dining room. She enjoys the look of pleasant surprise on both Andrew’s and Cate’s faces before asking them if they want some coffee or tea with dessert, then walks back into the kitchen after they’ve confirmed their preferred choices of beverage. Sandy fills the kettle with water and flips the espresso machine on, watching it whirr to life. She sets two cups beneath the dispenser and presses the button next to ‘Double Espresso’. 

With a quiet hiss the cups start to fill with the deep black liquid and the rich aroma of coffee is filling her nose. Sandy watches the cups dreamily, and for a short moment she fades back to a few days ago, when she was having coffee with her cast mates on set. 

The coffee back then hadn’t tasted nearly half as good as the coffee in front of her smelled and they had all agreed to never use the old coffee machine in the studio lot’s staff room ever again. They’d been laughing and relaxing and many of them had had their phones in their hands, trying to shut off their brains for five minutes until they were needed back on set. An insistent vibration had caught Sandy’s attention and for half a second she’d seen Rooney’s name on Cate’s display before Cate had grabbed the phone and excused herself, leaving the group to answer the call in private. Sandy had felt the need to follow her, to listen to Cate’s side of their conversation so she would know where she stood in this entirely new and strange situation she’d recently been finding herself in.

When Cate had returned Sandy had tried to gauge her mood, wanting to know how their call had gone. Had Cate broken up with Rooney? How had Rooney reacted? Would Cate secretly resent her for making her end the relationship with the young woman? Or maybe they’d talked about something else entirely. Maybe Rooney’d called to set up their next date and Cate had never had any intention of ending her intimate relationship with her former colleague. 

Sandy had carefully studied Cate’s face upon her return, but Cate’s face had been set in stone, giving nothing away and shortly after they’d been called back on set.

A quiet clack comes from the kettle as it switches itself off, hot steam rising from the boiling water within, and Sandy snaps back to the present. A second later the soft bleeping from the espresso machine signals its finished process. Sandy grabs a mug from the shelf and hangs a bag of Earl Grey tea into it before filling it up with hot water. Then she carefully puts the mug and the full coffee cups on a small tray, together with a small cup of milk and a little bowl of sugar, and carries everything into the dining room.

The three of them distribute hot drinks and pieces of pie and once everyone’s had taken a few bites, marveling at the rich flavor of caramel and apple, a comfortable silence fills the room, only broken by occasional praises for their dessert. 

Sandy is about halfway through her piece of pie, when Andrew speaks up.

“So, Sandra. Cate tells me you wanted to ask me something.” It’s a statement, spoken in a gentle tone. His face remains kind and open, as he indirectly prompts her to raise her questions and silently promises to listen without judgement.

Sandy blushes, but nods slightly. She takes a sip of her coffee, trying to stall for a few moments, but instantly hisses at the slight burn to her lip from the still hot beverage. She had wanted this conversation and Andrew and Cate have been nothing but understanding, honest and forthcoming ever since she’d voiced her interest in this evening together; she should just get over herself and ask the questions that are burning on her tongue.

“Yes well, I guess, I just wanted to know.. I mean.. how do you feel about-” Sandy takes a deep breath, swallowing the stammering nonsense and forces herself to get to the point. She makes a vague hand gesture and finishes her question while releasing the breath, she’s been holding. “-all of this. How do you deal with it?” Her eyes find Andrew’s, deliberately not meeting Cate’s. For whatever reason she finds herself unable to meet her gaze.

Andrew looks at her for a moment, as he chews and swallows a piece of pie. His eyes flick over to Cate’s for a second, growing gentle and loving, before returning to Sandy’s. “I love Cate and every time she looks at me, I can see that she feels the same about me. Cate is bisexual, she told me shortly after we started dating. It’s not something anyone can or should change, but it also means that there are things that she wants that I can’t give her. I want her to be happy and I don’t want her to wake up ten years from now feeling unfulfilled or unsatisfied because I’m keeping her from something she wants.”

For a few seconds a silence settles over them. Sandy didn’t expect an answer like this. And while she has to admit that it sounds logical and mature, there are still things she can’t quite wrap her head around.

“But doesn’t it make you crazy thinking about her with.. others?”

Flashes of all the tabloid headlines and the pictures on the internet from seven years ago pop up in her mind’s eye. The thought of Jesse having had sex with so many other women still makes her nauseous. How can Andrew know about his wife having sex with other people and still be okay with it?

“Having sex with others doesn’t hurt people; lying about it does. We swore each other that we would always tell each other the truth, that we will never lie to each other, no matter how hard that may be. What scares people is the unknown and the fear of betrayal, so there is no reason for me to go crazy. Cate isn’t betraying me, she is not lying to me, keeping anything from me or breaking my trust.”

Sandy’s gaze is drawn to Cate’s hand sliding over Andrew’s, slightly squeezing it. For a split second her eyes flick to Cate’s before they return to Andrew’s and she realizes that they both share the same look of love and trust. 

Sandy mulls over Andrew’s words again. Could it be that he is right? If Jesse hadn’t kept his affairs from her but had told her from the beginning, would it have hurt less? Would she have been okay with it, even?  _ No, definitely not. _ With a tight shake of her head, she addresses Andrew again, still not convinced that what he’s saying is true. 

“But, aren’t you jealous?”

Andrew fiddles with his fork, cutting of a bite-sized piece of his pie but doesn’t pick it up. He is obviously thinking over his answer, trying to find the right words. When he speaks up again, his words come haltingly, as if he’s still contemplating how to accurately voice his response.

“No. I think, people get jealous because they’re missing something that someone else has. But Cate’s and my relationship didn’t change in any way when she started sleeping with women, our relationship didn’t suffer because of it. It’s not like she gives me less affection or time or attention or love, so what reason would I have to feel jealous?”

With a frown between her eyebrows Sandy raises her coffee cup to gently blow on the hot drink. She takes her time and uses it to contemplate Andrew’s answer. She wants to believe him, wants to understand him, but no matter how she tries, she can’t see any way where she would have been okay with Jesse sleeping with anyone else but her. Just the thought of him touching someone else than her had made her jealous.

She is thankful for both Andrew’s and Cate’s understanding, for giving her the time to think over everything that’s being said. Sandy is still sipping her coffee, her eyes unfocused and her attention back in 2010. Maybe the problem hadn’t been her conservative point of view and her inability to open her mind to a polyamorous relationship. Maybe the problem had been something that Andrew mentioned earlier: love. If she was being honest with herself, then she had known even back then that she hadn’t truly loved Jesse, not really. She had loved the  attention he’d given her, his romance and the thought of having someone by her side, but not him.

The clinking of a spoon against the sides of a mug brings Sandy back to the present. Her eyes land on Cate’s hand that lazily stirs some milk into her tea. 

“The thought that someone else than you is giving Cate pleasure doesn’t make you jealous at all?” Sandy’s voice is quiet and pensive, her eyes still fixed on the black tea, that’s slowly turning into a light shade of brown. “What if it weren’t women but men?”

For a moment Andrew doesn’t answer and Sandy’s gaze is pulled back to his face. He looks unsure and takes in a deep breath, then slowly lets it out again. In the corner of her eye Sandy notices Cate’s hand tightening over Andrew’s and she thinks that maybe she’s just hit a sore spot.

“I have to admit.. I wouldn’t be okay with it. I can live with the thought of her with women because it’s something I can’t provide her with. But I don’t think there is anything another man can give her, that I can’t as well. I trust in Cate’s honesty and that she’ll tell me if she is missing something in our relationship and I promised her I will do my best to provide it.”

For the first time since they started this Q&A Sandy feels like she completely understands Andrew. His answer sounds logical and realistic to her and she nods her head as she processes his words. “Yeah, I get that.” She contemplates Cate’s and Andrew’s relationship, trying to project herself in Andrew’s position and while she can understand his position on male sexual partners, she still has some problems with the general idea of other sexual partners. It just doesn’t seem very fair.

“Do you also have other lovers?” The question leaves her mouth without consulting her brain first but as she waits for Andrew’s reaction, she has to admit that it’s a natural progression of their conversation and probably not a bad question to ask. The answer comes quicker this time as Andrew shakes his head and takes a quick sip of his coffee, then answers with a calm voice. “No. I tried it once, in the beginning, a few weeks after we agreed on this arrangement. It was only a kiss but it was enough for me to know that it wasn’t for me. I don’t want anybody else but Cate.”

With an absent mind Sandy thinks over his words while taking another sip of her coffee. It’s not as hot anymore, so she can enjoy the bitter taste on her tongue before the beverage warms her from the inside as it makes its way down her throat. Her eyes never leave Andrew’s face, studying his features closely and trying to see behind his words but only finding honesty. 

“How do you.. how do you share her with others?” Sandy’s gaze drops back to her coffee as uncertainty overcomes her again. She knows that she’s asked this questions already, with different words but the same meaning and she doesn’t want Andrew to feel like she isn’t paying attention or as if his answers mean nothing to her. But she still can’t shake this skepticism about this new world view he is explaining to her. “I mean, I know I asked this already and I’m sorry, I don’t wanna appear ungrateful for your time and answers, it’s just…” She trails off, not sure how to end her sentence.

“It’s just that this is all very new to you and you can’t quite believe or comprehend how I can be okay with other people having sex with this beautiful, amazing, funny woman that I love,” Andrew finishes for her. Slowly and shyly Sandy reconnects their gazes and is surprised to find nothing but understanding and openness directed at her. She slowly nods her head and receives a small smile in return.

“Well, the first thing you need to understand is that I don’t  _ ‘share’ _ Cate with anybody. It’s neither my right nor my position to share her; she’s not my property and I don’t own her. What she does is up to her, not me.”

Sandy’s first instinct is to feel ashamed. Of course Cate isn’t anyone’s property, she didn’t even mean it like that. She feels like she should apologize to Cate for insinuating this but one glance at Andrew’s face tells her that it’s not necessary. He knows that she didn’t mean it like that and instantly Sandy feels like a weight has been lifted.

For the first time since they started this conversation, Sandy carefully and haltingly moves her gaze over to Cate. Her eyes quickly find Cate’s blue ones, sparkling and smiling and making the butterflies in her belly flutter as if electrocuted. Suddenly she can’t remember why she avoided looking at Cate all this time when she feels like all she ever wants to do is look at this stunning woman and her gorgeous smile. Sandy tries to convey her feelings about her last question, her meaning and the misunderstanding and her shame and she is relieved to see acceptance and understanding in the smile she receives in return. 

With her eyes fixed on the startling blue across from her, Sandy slowly muddles through her foggy brain, trying to find back to the topic at hand and the conversation they’ve been having. When she finally manages, she needs to clear her throat and look away again, her eyes landing on Cate’s delicate and soft hand that is still absentmindedly stirring the spoon in her mug. Her voice is soft when she finally speaks up again, her eyes only quickly finding Cate’s to show that the question is directed at her this time.

“How can you be sure he isn’t actually resenting you for sleeping with other people?” In the last fifteen minutes she has tried to put herself in both Andrew’s and Cate’s shoes and what she found was, that if Bryan had told her to go sleep with other women, she would always have anticipated anger and resentment afterwards, would always have feared the aftermath.

Cate doesn’t seem to share this fear though. Her words are unwavering and her features show how sure she is in her answer. “Because I asked him and I know he will never lie to me. I trust him when he says that he is fine with it. Remember-” Cate moves her hand from her mug and lays it above Sandy’s, the warmth from Cate’s tea heating the back of her hand. “The most important things are honesty and trust. It won’t work without them.”

Cate’s touch sends a tingling feeling up her arm and Sandy’s eyes are fixed on the spot where her soft, elegant fingers are gently stroking a small circling pattern over the back of her hand. It takes an effort to concentrate back on the conversation and on a question that’s been at the back of her mind for a while now.

“What about the kids. I don’t suppose they know about the agreement but do they know.. do they meet.. have they met the other.. the.. your lovers?”

Sandy stumbles over the words, back to an embarrassing stutter caused by the gentle touch of Cate’s fingers. It’s distracting and it’s not fair and she feels even more embarrassed by the blush she can feel spreading across her cheeks. 

“Of course the kids don’t know. But they did meet some of my lovers. Andrew and I are still good friends with Amy and Darren, so naturally the kids have met them a few times. Their daughter is almost Iggy’s age and they love hanging out with each other. And Rooney and Dash met when he visited me on set and at a few events after filming ended.” Cate lists off the names without a worry, a small smile playing at the corner of her mouth. “They only meet under normal circumstances, though. I never bring any women to our house for sex, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Of course, no, I mean.. yes.. that sounds reasonable.” Sandy can feel the blush reaching the top of her ears and spreading down her neck and across the top of her chest, once again feeling slightly ashamed to insinuate something she never should have been worrying about. 

For a while it’s quiet, a silence settling over them again. Sandy still isn’t sure if she can comprehend how anyone could be okay with the agreement Cate and Andrew share. But over the past twenty minutes she has come to the conclusion that she doesn’t need to understand it, she just needs to accept that it works for them. After all, she doesn’t know how to do brain surgery either but she still knows that it exists and works.

“I have one more question.” Sandy takes a deep breath. This question has been taunting her since she’s first learned of the agreement but until now she didn’t know how to ask it. She still doesn’t exactly know but so far Andrew and Cate have been nothing but understanding and honest and if she doesn’t ask it now, when they offer her the opportunity and safe environment for it, then when else? “I don’t want to sound rude or anything, but.. when were your last STD tests and what were the results?” 

The words rush out of her mouth without pause and Sandy can feel the blood rush in her ears. She is so focused on hoping Cate and Andrew won’t suddenly get up and leave with outraged words on their lips, that she almost misses the soft spoken words and the gentle squeeze of Cate’s hand on hers.

“It’s not rude. It’s actually a quite responsible thought.” Cate sends an encouraging smile her way, before answering the question. “Andrew got tested a few years ago and I get tested every six months, the last was eight weeks ago. We’re both clean.”

“Good, good, that’s.. that’s good. Thanks.” A persistent nod accompanies her words. Sandy feels as if a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. For the first time since her discussion with Cate in her trailer she feels like this is all okay and fine and she can live with all of it without worry. A bit belatedly she remembers the last question and that it’s only fair for her to divulge the same information about herself. “I’m clean too. Ever since-” The name gets stuck in her throat and she feels both unable and unwilling to actually voice it. She decides on a different approach instead. “I got tested in 2010, after..” Her voice trails off again but she shakes her head in a “you know”-gesture. “And after that I made sure to get tested regularly. My last one was two months ago, after I broke up with Bryan.”

Andrew nods his head in understanding, then finally picks up that piece of pie and puts it into his mouth. To his right Cate is sending a gorgeous, honest smile her way and her hand squeezes hers for a moment. If feels like the end of the conversation but at the same time Sandy is sure that both Andrew and Cate wouldn’t mind if she came up with any more questions. 

She hadn’t known what to expect of Andrew before meeting him. Of course she’s seen pictures of him and Cate has mentioned him a few times when they’d been chatting between filming. Looking at the man now Sandy feels grateful and glad to have met him. He seems like an honest guy, a feminist, someone who isn’t afraid to say what he’s feeling, and a believer in what’s right and fair. He is open-minded and polite and shows not a drop of toxic masculinity. There is no possessiveness in the way he talks to or about Cate or touches her but at the same time nobody who’d ever seen Cate and him interact would ever question the deep love and respect they have for each other. With a small smile Sandy takes another sip of her coffee, feeling a slight twinge of envy and loneliness bubble up inside her.

“Thank you both. I know this was probably a strange request and you were so honest and patient with me, so thank you for indulging me.” Sandy sends a quick but thankful smile across the dinner table, then hides her face behind her coffee cup as she drains it of its content. 

“Oh no, darling, no need to thank us.”, Cate immediately assures her. Her smile is dazzling and her eyes are shining and Sandy can feel a jolt of electricity that starts on the back of her hand where Cate draws soft circles with her fingers and spreads all the way to her belly where the butterflies are reanimated by it.

“Cate is right, there is no need. It was our pleasure.” Andrew’s voice, while still gentle and honest, puts a damper on her feelings. For a second there Sandy forgot he was still here.

A silence settles between the three of them and for a few seconds Sandy watches Cate and Andrew as they finish their drinks and pieces of pie. The silence feels tense to her but Andrew’s and Cate’s open and easy natures don’t seem affected by it. Still, Sandy feels the need to break it.

“Do you have any questions?”, she blurts out in her need to fill the silence and quickly amends when she realizes how confusing her question might be without hearing in on her inner monologue. “For me, I mean. Because, well.. I asked you so many questions now and maybe.. maybe there’s something you wanna ask me in return?”

There’s a small chuckle on Andrew’s lips as he puts his fork down on his empty plate. “The only question I can think of is: How did you make the lasagne taste so good? There is something I can’t put my finger on, but I know that I’ve never had a lasagne like that.” He is smiling widely now and leaning forward in his seat, as if to show that he is actually interested in her answer and not just throwing a shallow compliment at her.

Sandy feels the slight blush reappear on her cheeks at his obvious interest. “I put mozzarella in between every layer to make it extra cheesy.”

“Brilliant, I have to remember that.” 

Sandy smiles at the obvious happiness on Andrew’s face, then collects all the plates and mugs to carry them into the kitchen. She grabs another bottle of red wine from the shelf and opens it with practised ease before returning to the dining room with three fresh wine glasses in her other hand.

She finds Andrew standing behind the chair he sat on only moments ago, with his hands on the chair’s backrest and an apologetic smile on his lips. “Thank you for this great dinner, Sandra, it was delicious. And I apologize but I need to be going.” She believes that he is honestly sad to leave, that he really had a nice evening and enjoyed the food.

“Oh, but I just opened a new bottle of wine, are you sure you need to leave already?” Sandy puts the glasses down on the table and sends a sad and disappointed look to both her guests. She had hoped they could continue their lovely discussion on european architecture that they’d started over dinner.

Andrew nods twice and reaffirms his need to leave. “I’m really sorry, but I need to relieve the babysitter.”

“Of course, yes, I understand.” The mention of the kids makes Sandy realize the late hour. It’s already past 11pm and she thinks of Louis and Laila and how much she misses them. It’s 10pm in New Orleans and she imagines them already fast asleep, tugged in and cuddled up to their stuffed animals. 

Sandy is brought back to the present by the scratching sound of Cate’s chair as she gets up from it. It’s only then that she realizes that Andrew used the first person singular and only mentioned himself when saying that he needed to leave. He didn’t say  _ ‘they’  _ needed to leave, but _ ‘he’  _ needed to _.  _ Sandy sends a searching look to Cate who has now risen from her seat as well, her body language suggesting that she intends to leave with her husband. She can’t help but hope that she isn’t on a completely wrong track here and that Cate is only waiting for her to say something, too polite to just prolong her own visit uninvited.

“Do you have to leave as well?” Her words are directed at Cate, a hopeful look on her face as she puts the wine bottle down on the table. Surprise colors Cate’s features and Sandy feels the need to explain further. “If that’s okay… with you both. I mean-” Suddenly she feels unsure and anxious and she can’t help but feel like she misread the situation. Cate probably wants to go home to her kids as well and just because they now have had this discussion, doesn’t mean that anything’s going to happen between them tonight. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- I just meant that if you wanted to stay for a bit longer- but I’m sure you want… sorry, I-” She feels stupid and embarrassed and tries to talk herself out of the hole she has dug herself in when Cate’s soft voice interrupts her. “Yes, I’d love to stay.”

Instantly Sandy feels a weight drop from her shoulders, knowing that she’s read the situation right after all and she feels the bright blush that rose during her stammering explanation recede to a light coloring on her cheeks. Her eyes are fixed on the bright smile on Cate’s lips and once again it takes Andrew to speak up for her to remember his presence. “Alright, well, thanks again, Sandra. I hope we can finish our architecture discussion soon.”

They all make their way to the foyer where Sandy hands Andrew his jacket and shakes his hand, again thanking him for his time, honesty and patience and promising to meet up again soon. She watches as Cate kisses her husband goodbye and tells him to give some kisses to the kids as well. She promises to call when she leaves and to take a cab back to the hotel even though the distance isn’t far at all. 

 

~ tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again, I apologize for the abrupt ending. Since the second part of the chapter is almost finished, I hope I'll be able to post it in a week, at the latest. Hope you guys stick around for it :)


	4. “I’ll give you anything, just tell me what you want.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Andrew leaves, Cate and Sandy enjoy an exciting night with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I have to apologize for the long wait. If it helps, this chapter is quite long and pure smut :D
> 
> Also, once again, I'd like to thank the amazingly awesome ladies of the Discord server who always motivate me to (and sometimes blackmail me into) writing. I love you guys, this is for you!

Once they’re alone, they fill two wine glasses and take them to the living room, seating themselves on opposite ends of the couch, their bodies turned sideways so they’re turned towards each other. The words come slowly at first but soon their conversation is flowing, like it often does on set and they both melt into the soft cushions as all tension leaves their bodies. They talk about all the things they haven’t really had the time for so far because usually their breaks on set aren’t longer than half an hour and even then there are six other women who join in and steer the topics in all kinds of directions. They talk for an hour while slowly working on that bottle of wine, their topics ranging from the magnificent art at the MET to some lesser known theatre productions that influenced their acting.

Cate has just told her about her children’s recent adventure in trick-or-treating and Sandy finds herself once again entranced in her stunning beauty and blindingly gorgeous laugh. She studies Cate’s features, for once unashamed and undisturbed, and takes in all her dimples and wrinkles, the sparkle in her eyes and the way the soft light reflects off of her lips.

Moments pass until Sandy notices that Cate has stopped talking. She hopes she hasn’t missed a question but the look on Cate’s face isn’t expectant; rather she returns the look of marvel and wonder that must surely grace her own face as well. 

“So-” She needs to clear her throat to get rid of the scratchy feeling, then tries again. “So, what happens afterwards?” She can see a slight confusion on Cate’s face and rushes to elaborate. “Once we’re done filming, will that be the end?” She doesn’t add  _ ‘of our relationship’ _ but trusts that Cate still knows what she’s talking about.

“Not if we don’t want it to be.” Cate’s voice is soft and low, at least one octave deeper than a few minutes earlier and Sandy has to swallow a lump forming in her throat. “I’ve been in a similar situation before and sure, we probably won’t be able to meet quite as often but it’s not impossible to see each other.” She doesn’t need to mention Rooney’s name for Sandy to know exactly who Cate is talking about. “Plus, there’s still the premier events and the press tour in less than a year, we’ll be in close proximity for one or two weeks then.” 

Cate sends her a cheeky wink but Sandy is still mulling over the person Cate actively didn’t name and the phone call she can’t forget.

“I saw that Rooney called you a few days ago, when we were having lunch on set.” 

Sandy empties her glass of wine in an attempt to appear nonchalant and slightly less interested but one look at Cate tells her that she is not very successful. Cate is looking at her with a small smile on her lips and Sandy is unsure how to complete her question, unsure if it’s even her place to ask it. She is relieved when Cate answers, before emptying her own glass of wine. “Yes, I asked her to call me, told her we needed to talk.”

She doesn’t provide more information but her smile makes Sandy feel like it’s okay to ask. “Did you-”  _ end it? _

Sandy can’t quite bring herself to finish the question, too anxious about what Cate might answer, too anxious even to look at her, preferring instead to focus her gaze on the empty glass in her hands.

“I told her that we can only be friends from now on.” Cate’s voice is low, her accent heavy and the husky drawl sends a shiver down Sandy’s back. She breathes deeply and finally, Sandy feels brave enough to look at Cate again. Her eyes find Cate’s, the low light reflected in her startling blue ones. She is slowly letting the tip of her tongue glide over her bottom lip and Sandy feels the sudden need to kiss it. And then she realizes that she can do that now. 

Slowly she puts her glass down on the couch table, then carefully crawls over until she is right in front of Cate. The blue eyes haven’t left hers and Sandy can see her holding her breath in anticipation. 

Gently Sandy takes Cate’s glass out of her hands and puts it next to her own, making sure to give Cate ample time to object if she wants to. She slowly puts a strand of blonde hair behind Cate’s ear, gently stroking her cheek, before leaning in and closing their lips in a soft kiss.

Cate responds immediately, kissing her back with a hunger. Her hands lie on the couch next to her body, tense and stiff, as if it takes effort to restrain herself and Sandy is thankful that Cate lets her set the tempo. They break apart for air and Sandy starts kissing down Cate’s neck until-

“Sandy, wait!”

Uncertainty floods her instantly. Did she do something wrong? Did she assume something that wasn’t there? Did Cate change her mind? She quickly leans back and scans Cate’s face, her eyes flicking over her features, trying to determine what’s going on. She feels Cate’s hands fist her top, pulling her closer, suggesting that she wants her and for a microsecond Sandy wonders when Cate moved her hands and how she didn’t notice this desperate grip on her silk blouse. 

“Sandy-” Her name sounds like a ghost of a moan that turns her insides into mush. Slowly Cate opens her eyes and Sandy can see her dilated pupils. “Are you sure, Sandy? Maybe we should talk about this some more.”

“I’ve never been surer in my life!” She surges forward again, her lips finding Cate’s again, sealing them in a searing kiss that Cate reciprocates heatedly for a few seconds before breaking apart again. 

“Wait, wait!” This time Cate is visibly out of breath and the blue in her eyes have clouded over with desire, making them appear darker. “I need you to say it, Sandy.” Cate’s gaze is boring into her, trying to make her understand that this is important to her. “Are you okay with a friends-with-benefits relationship? No feelings other than friendship, no jealousy, 100% honesty? Have you done something like this before?”

Sandy takes a deep breath. No, she’s never had any no-strings-attached sex. She’s also never had sex with a woman. Would this be a dealbreaker for Cate? Would she end this before it has even begun because of Sandy’s inexperience?

With a lowered head Sandy softly shakes her head. “No... but Cate, I want this, I want you, and I want to try. I’ll try my best to obey the rules and I can promise you my honesty and discretion in all regards of this relationship.”

Her hands are still lying on Cate’s neck, her thumb softly stroking the flawless skin beneath, feeling the fluttering of Cate’s racing pulse. She watches as Cate’s tongue flicks out, wetting her lips again. She nods gently, then speaks up before Sandy has the chance to attack her lips again. 

“One more thing, because I need to be absolutely sure.” She waits until Sandys eyes are reconnected with her own, flicking up from the distracting tip of a pink tongue and full, soft lips. “Are you sure you really want this? Are you not just saying this out of guilt or some false sense of obligation because I broke up with Rooney for you? Because you don’t need to feel obligated, alright? You don’t owe me anything. If you’ve changed your mind, that’s fine, I promise. We can still be just friends! Me breaking up with Rooney doesn’t change anyth-” Sandy stops Cate’s rambling with a finger to her lips. She must admit that Cate looks very cute when she’s rambling, probably partly due to how rarely she sees her like this.

“I am sure, Cate. I want you. I don’t feel obligated, only grateful.” 

For a moment they both look at each other, trying to convey their feelings and promises through deep, meaningful gazes. Cate nods again, accepting Sandy’s confirmation and Sandy waits for another short moment to see if Cate wants to discuss anything else. When Cate doesn’t speak up again, she finally leans forward again and reconnects their lips, pulling Cate as close as possible in the position they’re currently in. 

Cate is still sitting sideways on the couch with her back against the armrest and her right foot planted on the floor. Her hands are tightly gripping the silk of Sandy’s top and her head is tilted back into her neck so her lips can meet Sandy’s, who is kneeling on the couch before her, her body towering over Cate, with her head bowed so her lips can reach Cate’s. Sandy’s hands are holding Cate’s face and her fingers are softly caressing Cate’s skin. 

She wants to be closer, wants to feel Cate’s body against hers but the position of Cate’s left leg, folded in front of her on the couch, won’t allow it. Frustrated she tries to find the leg with her hand without breaking the kiss, intent on moving it out of the way, and a grumbled huff mixes with a low moan when Cate slips her tongue past her lips and strokes the back of her teeth in that same moment. Instantly her quest to move Cate’s leg out of the way is forgotten as her tongue is suddenly the only thing she cares about.

With a desperation Sandy deepens their kiss, duelling Cate’s tongue with her own. The hand that couldn’t find Cate’s leg tries to find something else to hold on to and connects with Cate’s side. She lets her nails trail over the satin black dress, higher and higher, until she feels the swell of a breast and a whimper against her tongue.

“Sandy-” Cate’s voice has nothing of the lovely tilt in it that usually entrances every person who hears it. Instead the word sounds more like a soft moan, a plea, and Sandy revels in it, even as Cate pulls away a fraction of an inch, just enough to whisper against her lips. “-bed?”

On one hand Sandy feels like she might combust if her lips disconnected from Cate’s. But on the other hand she knows that she will be able to get a lot closer to Cate once they’re on her bed and in a much more comfortable position. With a sharp, jerky movement she nods her consent but it takes Cate leaning back and putting several inches between their bodies for Sandy to move into action. She slides off the couch and grabs Cate’s hand to help her up. 

As soon as they’re both on the same level again, Sandy presses her lips back onto Cate’s. Her hands pull Cate’s body against hers and she feels Cate’s soft hands on her waist, gently guiding her around the couch. Stumbling, they make their way through the living room and towards the narrow staircase, never breaking their kiss. Sandy curses her townhouse and the bedroom that’s one floor above them as they take the first few steps up the stairs and nearly tumble over themselves. 

Cate’s hands bunch up Sandy’s silk blouse, slipping beneath and teasing soft skin over taut abs, sending goosebumps all over her body and a soft moan past her lips. While Sandy is half concentrated on guiding the both of them up the stairs, Cate uses the time to slip her hands higher, her nails gently raking over Sandy’s skin, until they reach the edge of a lacy silk bra. Breath leaves Sandy’s lips in a shaky whisper and her arms try to pull Cate even closer. 

“Cate-” The name is no more than a needy whisper. They’ve come to a standstill in the middle of the flight of stairs with Cate pressing Sandy against the wall. Her hand has abandoned the satin dress in favor of  Cate’s short, blonde hair and her head is thrown back against the wall as Cate’s lips attack her neck. The fingers beneath her blouse have stopped their movement as if waiting for permission to go on and Sandy barely manages a broken “please” and a tug on Cate’s hair before she feels the cool air hit her hard nipples. Cate has tugged the bra cups down, sending a shiver down her body, before cupping them in her warm, soft hands, gently squeezing and kneading and sending Sandy’s head reeling.

Sandy can barely breathe, with too many sensations attacking her at once. Cate definitely knows what she’s doing, her fingers scorching her skin wherever they touch her. She can feel her nails digging into the soft flesh of her breasts and when her fingers pinch her nipples her whole body arches off the wall. Soon she can feel Cate’s hot breath join the mix, her tongue licking the space between her breasts before engulfing her left nipple in wet heat and tearing a strangled curse from her. Her own hands are tangled in Cate’s hair, pushing and pulling at the same time, unsure of what exactly she is doing but knowing that she never wants to stop feeling like she does at this moment.

For a moment Sandy looks down, seeing her bunched up blouse and a tangle of blonde hair and her own hands messing it up even more. She wants to see Cate’s eyes and within a heartbeat she finds herself tugging off her own silk blouse, tearing it up and over her head. Surprised she finds the claps of her bra already undone and Cate’s sly wink as she sucks on her nipple is almost her undoing. Quickly Sandy gets rid of her bra, then looks down her body again. The result is better than she had hoped for as the deep blue of Cate’s eyes meet her own, a sexy smirk playing at her lips as she starts licking her way to her right nipple, sending shocks of electricity through her upper body. 

“Fuck, Cate!” She’s not sure what she was planning to say in the first place, if there even was a plan, but Cate releases her nipple then, a soft ‘plop’ as it slips from her mouth, and she surges up to reclaim her lips. And as she does her bare breasts come into contact with the cool air around them and the soft fabric of Cate’s dress and if there ever were words at the tip of her tongue, then they’re certainly gone now as Cate moves to rub her satin covered breasts against her naked ones while her tongue invades her mouth.

Not for the first time during the last ten minutes Sandy feels her knees starting to buckle and she is once again reminded of her bed that they wanted to make good use of. She slides her hands to Cate’s cheek and behind her neck to make sure their kiss won’t be broken, then pushes herself off the wall to make a few steps further up the stairs, making sure to pull Cate with her. 

They climb a few steps and Sandy is surprised they even made it this far, when she suddenly feels one of Cate’s hands between her legs, her nails scratching her inner thighs through the thin fabric of her black pants while her thumb rubs at the apex of her legs, pressing her panties against her swollen lips and coating them in her arousal. 

A hitched sound is ripped from her lungs and as her hips cant forward on their own account Sandy loses her footing on the next step. She tumbles backwards, pulling Cate with her and it’s only Cate’s quick reflexes and her hand that flies forward that prevents them both from getting hurt. Cate makes sure that Sandy has a step to sit on before kneeling on one slightly below her and finally letting the chuckle out that’s been tickling her.

“I didn’t expect this reaction.” Her laugh is blinding and lights up her whole face and Sandy can’t help but join in, a mix of joy and embarrassment coloring her face. The joy has brought back the stunning blue in Cate’s eyes but the desire and lust are still visible in her glistering, swollen lips, the way she’s slightly out of breath and the heated blush on her cheeks and neck. “I’m sorry for that, I should have asked permission before touching you like that.”

With a hand on the small of her neck Sandy pulls Cate to her, closing their lips in a soft kiss that says  _ ‘it’s fine’ _ and  _ ‘you’re cute’ _ at the same time and she hopes Cate understands it like this as well. Sandy revels in the feel of Cate’s lips on hers, so soft and gentle and she wonders how she’ll ever live without this feeling ever again. Soon their kiss grows heated again and her desperation returns like a boomerang, leaving her needy for more, more of what she isn’t sure, just.. more!

“Do it again!” Her voice is raspy and low and her legs spread slightly to emphasize the meaning of her words. Cate’s pupils react instantly, dilating until it seems like they’re swallowing the bright blue of her eyes. Gone is the laughter from her lips and eyes, replaced by an obvious desire and a flare of lust. Slowly Cate moves forward and leans over Sandy. Her hands lay on the round, firm cheeks of Sandy’s ass and with a swift move she lifts her two steps higher so she’s sitting on the top step with nothing but the carpeted floor spreading out behind her. Then she slowly moves on top of her, her lean frame hovering over Sandy’s as she props herself on her elbow next to Sandy’s head. Sandy spreads her legs even wider to accommodate Cate’s body between them and pulls Cate’s lips back to hers.

She is just about to repeat her command when she feels Cate’s hand move between their bodies, starting its journey at Sandy’s collarbone and slowly moving down. She breaks their kiss and moans when she feels a warm, soft hand palm her breast and twirl her nipple before continuing further down. Cate’s gaze is fixed on her, the desire in her eyes sparks like a fire in the ocean, blazing and roaring and Sandy can feel the heat roll through her, burning her up from the inside. 

Cate’s nails scratch over her taut belly, tense from trying to keep herself from rolling her hips and arching her back and Sandy thinks she might hyperventilate if Cate doesn’t touch her between her legs within the next few seconds. It takes a bit longer. Cate’s hand moves down the side of her thigh, then slides to the inside before finally,  _ finally  _ inching slowly upwards to where Sandy needs her the most. 

In the end it takes her too long, her desperation growing stronger than her patience and she breaks their heated gaze in favor of a fierce kiss that ends in a warning bite to Cate’s lip. 

“Cate!” The warning doesn’t sound as dangerous as she wants, her panting breath making it sound more needy than she’d like but it gets the message across because not a second later Cate is finally cupping her pussy through the thin fabric of her pants. 

Sandy groans, her eyes closing in a reflex as her body arches against Cate’s. She needs more; more pressure, more movement, more Cate! Her hand grabs Cate around the neck, pulling her head down and their lips together again. It’s a messy kiss without coordination or grace and broken again and again by their shaky groans. Sandy’s hips roll in her need to feel more and when the pressing and rubbing of Cate’s hand isn’t enough anymore, her teeth bite into Cate’s lip again. She shivers when she hears Cate’s moan and mumbles against her lips. “Touch me!” 

She’s forcing her voice to be as strong as possible and she thinks she succeeded when she feels Cate’s hips roll against her own and a silent whimper against her lips. By now she has realized that Cate quite likes to be told what to do, likes her demanding side and she would have to lie if she said that it didn’t make her soak her panties when she thinks of Cate following her every command, quivering and begging and needing her. 

Almost instantly Cate rushes into action, her hand finding the button and fly of the pants and expertly opening them one-handed. She pulls the flaps to the side and slides her hand in, underneath the lacy panties and they both moan their pleasures when her fingers make contact with the wet, slick heat of Sandy’s arousal. 

“Oh god!” “Ngh, yesss!”

For a moment neither moves as they both enjoy this first contact they’ve been craving for so long. Then Sandy starts moving again, canting her hips forward in an effort to create friction where there currently is none and it startles Cate into movement. To Sandy’s great disappointment Cate slips her hand out again until she realizes her intent and lifts her hips in order to help her wrangle the pants and underwear over her ass and down past her knees. She tries kicking them further down but only succeeds to free one of her legs.

_ ‘Fuck it, this is good enough,’ _ she thinks before abandoning the task and spreading her legs wide to pull Cate down between them, then concentrating on Cate’s hands and lips again. Cate slips her fingers through Sandy’s folds, coating them in her wetness, as if she wanted to familiarize herself with every microinch of Sandy’s pussy, before dipping first one, then a second finger into her and setting a steady rhythm of long, slow strokes and tight circles around her clit.

“Do you remember - that night - in Sarah’s hotel room?” 

Sandy isn’t sure where she finds the strength and brain capacity to put words into actual, coherent sentences in that moment, but the current strokes of Cate’s fingers aren’t enough to tame the blazing fire that’s burning inside her. Cate’s eyes find her own again, looking at her through hooded lids and it’s the only sign that she’s heard and understood Sandy’s words.

“The vodka - the whiskey - Nora and Sarah - so drunk - goofing around-” Her breath comes in sharp, short pants and she knows that she needs to get to the point quickly before all brain functions leave her completely. “-you were on your way - to getting sloshed as well - and I saw you - how you looked at me-” She remembers back to the night and how turned on she was from the way Cate’s eyes never strayed from her, how her eyes undressed her, devoured her. “-your hungry eyes - following me around - like you wanted - to fuck me so hard - right there - on the floor - of Sarah’s room.” 

Cate’s eyes have turned dark at her words, obviously remembering the night as well. Sandy raises her hand and lets her fingers glide through short, platinum blonde hair, before she grabs a handful of strands and pulls. Cate hisses in a mixture of pleasure and pain and bares her neck as her head follows the pull. Sandy lifts her head to bring her lips to Cate’s ear, then whispers in a breathy growl. “Fuck me like you wanted to that night!”

It’s like a switch is being flipped. Without a moment’s hesitation her fingers plunge into her pussy, with a hard and fast rhythm and forceful thrusts. A low groan fills the room and Sandy isn’t sure who it is coming from. She arches her back and rolls her hips and moans without pause as Cate fucks her with an intensity she’s never experienced before. Her fingers lose their grip and slide to Cate’s neck, pulling her lips back to her own, claiming her with a hungry, bruising kiss. They break for air and Sandy latches onto Cate’s neck, licking and sucking and biting and all the sensations cloud her mind until she hears the husky croak of Cate’s heavy Australian accent. “Wanted you - so badly - short dress - wanted to eat you out - right there - in front of everyone - looked so hot that night - so hot tonight.”

Sandy feels like her mind might implode any second now, flooded with Cate’s confession and all the feelings and sensations she’s drowning in. Cate pounds into her with a fervor, curling her fingers and flicking her thumb over her clit and it’s like they’ve done this for years because every touch and every thrust is exactly what Sandy wants and needs in that moment. 

Her climax is approaching with surprising speed and all her moans and  _ ‘Fuck’ _ s and  _ ‘Yes’ _ s aren’t enough to vocalize what she feels. She’s had orgasms before, mind-blowing ones even, but what she feels building at her core is unlike anything else. She can’t say how long she’s been lying on the top step of these stairs or how long Cate’s been fucking her like there’s not tomorrow but she knows that she won’t hold out for much longer. 

She is a mess of sweaty hair, flushed skin and short breath as she pulls on Cate’s hair again so she can look into her eyes. The blue of her eyes are a dark, swirling storm of passion and the look of hunger and desire is almost enough to push her over the edge. “Fuck, fuck, Cate-”, she pants against Cate’s lips, her hands clinging to the body above hers, nails digging into soft skin, sure to leave imprints. 

“Oh god - don’t stop - I’m gonna-” With a cry of pleasure she feels the pressure bubbling over and pure bliss rolling through her, starting at her clit and electrifying her whole body. Her voice is strained as she moans her pleasure into Cate’s shoulder while her whole body tenses up and all she can hear is the rush of blood in her ears.

Her moans slowly subside and turn into whimpers as the blinding wave of her orgasm gives way to aftershocks running through her body and her thighs clench whenever Cate moves her fingers. 

“Fuck, Sandy, that was so hot!” Cate murmurs into her ear before flicking out her tongue and using it to trace Sandy’s earlobe, and when she pulls it into her mouth to suck and bite on it, Sandy can’t help but turn the next whimper into a moan. She gently pulls Cate’s hair to make her look at her and is amazed by the unrestricted lust she finds there. She feels Cate thrust her hip, probably trying to relieve some built-up pressure and jerks at the shocks it sends through her as Cate’s hips push against the hand that’s still between Sandy’s legs. 

Sandy takes a deep breath to slow her pulse and guides Cate lips down to hers, connecting them in a soft and slow kiss. She whimpers when Cate pulls her fingers out of her pussy and it turns into a groan, deep in her throat, when she watches Cate lean back and raise them to her mouth to suck and lick them clean. “Fuck, Cate!” The sparks of desire fly up again from just watching her and when Cate is finally finished, Sandy engulfs her lips in a searing kiss.

Sandy eventually breaks their kiss and murmurs “Bed?” again, a reminder for their initial destination. Cate smiles down at her and presses another kiss to her lips, this one short and sweet, before getting up from the hard floor. Sandy uses the opportunity to free her right leg of her pants and underwear and to kick off her high heels. She finds herself completely naked and she gives Cate a pointed stare because apart from her shoes, which she must have stepped out of before they’d reached the stairs, Cate is still fully dressed in her slightly wrinkled satin dress.

Cate winks at her and offers her a hand to help her up, then wraps her arms around Sandy’s waist. Sandy leads the way since Cate has never been to her bedroom before and as she guides her to one of the three doors accessible from this hallway, she starts fumbling with the zip of Cate’s dress.

She finally finds it and starts pulling it down as they step through the door and enter Sandy's bedroom, held in light lavender colors and smelling of freshly laundered sheets. She takes her time with lowering the zip, enjoying the way her fingers softly tease over the newly exposed skin. When the zip is fully lowered Sandy steps around Cate to where her alabaster skin is now peaking out between the open flaps of her black dress. 

With a delicate push to the fabric, it slips from Cate's shoulders and without resistance it falls from her lithe body to pool at her feet. Sandy's breath hitches as she takes in the vast amount of naked skin and perfect curves before her. Her lips ghost over Cate's vertebras, softly kissing down her spine. Her hands first stroke along Cate’s sides, then slide to her front to gently rake her nails over tensed abs, and Sandy revels in the soft sighs and hitched breaths that leave Cate's lips.

When her lips meet the backstrap of Cate's bra she presses them to the slight dent between two vertebras right above it, sucking and licking and nibbling until she sees a dark spot forming there. Her hands glide to Cate's back to find the clasp of the light blue bra and within a few seconds Cate finds herself topless. 

Quickly Sandy slides her hands down, now impatient to finish her task, and she hooks her thumbs into matching, lacy panties and gives them a push. She swallows a whimper when she watches Cate wriggle her round, firm ass to make the underwear fall more quickly and she watches entranced as it falls soundlessly to the ground.

Sandy presses a last, soft kiss to Cate's shoulder, then slowly steps around her, her hands trailing behind and coming to a standstill on Cate's waist. The anticipation is making her pulse race. Sandy steps back, her hands falling to her side, and with a hungry gaze and a held breath she takes in the naked beauty before her.

“God, Cate, you’re beautiful.”

Sandy stares at Cate for a moment, marveling at her full breasts and soft skin, at the tiny tattoos on her lower belly and the clean shaven lips, dark and swollen and glistening. When her eyes travel back up to Cate's face again, she finds her cheeks covered in a light blush and it occurs to her that she’s been staring for quite some time. She extends her hand and waits for Cate to lay hers in it before gently pulling her to her. She gathers Cate in her arm and enjoys the unique feeling of her naked breasts pressed to Cate’s. Their lips meet in a sweet, slow kiss and Sandy can’t stop herself from letting her hands travel all over Cate's marvelous body. She slowly guides them backwards and feels the edge of the bed against the back of her knees after only two small steps. 

With one hand behind Cate's neck and one on her waist Sandy plops down on the bed, pulling Cate with her, who promptly moves to straddle her lap. Cate's knees rest next to her hips and Sandy’s hands fall to Cate’s hips as if in reflex. Sandy breaks their kiss to move her lips down Cate's neck, nipping and licking a way down to her collarbone, leaving a trail of small, light bruises until they finally reach their goal and close around a peaked nipple. Her hand quickly finds and palms the other breast, enjoying and cataloguing all of Cate's sighs and whimpers.

She spends an eternity exploring Cate's body, her mouth kissing and licking every inch of skin it can reach and her hands discovering every other part of Cate's beautiful body, and soon she can feel Cate getting restless. She hears her needy whines and pleading mewls and after some time she has mercy and decides to give her what she wants.

Sandy leans back a bit, just enough for her eyes to find Cate's and she holds them as her hand dips between their bodies to lay on the inside of her thigh. Slowly, to give Cate plenty time to object, she moves it up, her nails raking over soft flesh, and when she finally reaches her goal, she’s amazed by the slick heat she finds there. Her breathy pants hitch when she feels Cate's arousal and she glides her fingers through her folds, coats them in her wetness. The mixed scent of both their arousals wafts up and engulfs them and Sandy moans at the realization that she did that to Cate, that she is the reason for the slickness around her fingers. 

“You’re so wet!” Her voice is barely a whisper, a marvel at the situation she finds herself in. Slowly Sandy starts spreading the wetness, spreading the folds with her fingers and slightly dipping in between. She carefully catalogues every single one of Cate's reactions, putting great attention to what elicits the deepest moans and most swear words.

“Sandy, please!”

Cate is getting restless again. Slowly Sandy slips a finger inside her, carefully pushing, going by Cate's responses and not stopping until she is buried inside her to her knuckles. She starts a slow rhythm, her eyes flitting across Cate's features, committed to catching every reaction as she fucks her, her movements steadily gaining thrust and speed. 

Sandy is amazed by Cate's stunning beauty as she tips her head back and closes her eyes. With her bottom lip between her teeth, her long bangs sticking to her sweat covered face and a whispered ‘Fuck’ leaving with every other thrust of her fingers, Cate is the most sensual and gorgeous woman Sandy has ever seen.

“Sandy-” Cate rolls her hips, matching the thrusts and trying to maximize the friction, and Sandy finds it hard to not lose the rhythm. Her voice sounds strangled and desperate and her hands land on Sandy's shoulders, nails digging into the top of her shoulder blades. “-please Sandy!” 

The begging nature of Cate's words sends a rush through Sandy's veins. She feels herself getting wet again but the frantic look on Cate's face makes her push those thoughts to the back of her mind. There will be time to think about this later.

“Tell me what you need.” Sandy isn’t surprised by the rough texture of her own voice and the scratchy feeling in her throat. She feels like she’s starving, yearning for Cate's sounds, touch, smell, for all of Cate, never able to fill her need. How did she live without her all this time?

“Finger - more - harder - please!” Cate's gasps pull her from her thoughts. With only a moment’s hesitation Sandy complies by adding a second finger and pumping both of them in and out of Cate with a bit more force. Sandy may not have had sex with a woman before but she knows where the g-spot is located so she tries her best, curling her fingers inside Cate and wriggling them until she gets the desired reaction.

Soon Cate's hips start to thrust, trying to get more friction and Sandy realizes that she needs to hold her hand still in order to give Cate what she needs. Her other hand lays on Cate's hip and helps her with her movement, pulling and pushing her, thrusting her onto her fingers. 

Sandy doesnt know how long Cate's been kneeling above her but it feels like hours. Her hand is slowly starting to cramp from the unusual position but she is determined to get Cate to reach her orgasm. She leans forward and takes a pebbled nipple into her mouth, licking and sucking and softly biting it to tear those exquisite groans from Cate. 

After a few minutes Sandy notices that Cate gets more desperate, mewling in frustration. She moves her lips to the other nipple and her thumb to Cate's clit, rubbing it in small, tight circles, just like Cate told her on the phone and Cate's reaction is instantaneous. Her pants get shorter, the curse words come more quickly and her hips thrust more violently, the rhythm getting messy. It’s an effort to keep one hand still, her fingers curled, and the other hand moving with Cate’s thrusts, fingers circling and pressing to Cate’s clit but somehow she manages and Sandy feels almost proud that she can coax these sounds from Cate even though it’s her first time fucking a woman.

“Sandy - fuck - please - shit - so close!” There is a desperation in Cate's voice and a deep wrinkle between her eyebrows. Her hands have an iron grip on Sandy's neck and a fine sheen of sweat is covering her whole body. Sandy can feel Cate’s arousal dripping on her thighs and the scent of it is strong enough to make her drunk on desire. 

“I wanna watch you come,” Sandy growls against Cate's collarbone, sucking her way up to her neck, then latching on, nipping and biting at the delicate skin until she can see a dark bruise forming there. With a satisfaction she leans back, her eyes focused on Cate's face. She uses more pressure on her clit and curls her fingers in the way that has produced the most reactions and after only a few more thrusts Cate suddenly goes rigid in her lap. 

Sandy marvels at the muscles that squeeze her fingers and the wetness that pools on her palm. Cate's thighs tense and press against Sandy's hips and her fingers dig painfully into the soft skin of her neck. A deep, low growl gets stuck in Cate's throat and her eyes squeeze shut tightly. Sandy takes all of it in, every stunning detail of Cate's orgasm and she doesnt think shes ever felt as powerful as right now. She feels drunk on this feeling and is pretty sure that she’s already addicted to it.

When Cate's inner muscles relax and only twitch sporadically around her fingers, she feels Cate's body slump above her. She quickly uses her free arm to circle her waist and pull her against her so she doesn’t fall off her lap and Cate's head rolls forward to lay against Sandy's shoulder. Slowly Sandy pulls her other hand free. It glisters with Cate's arousal, thin strings of slickness stretching between her fingers, and she doesn’t even think about it, she just knows that she needs to taste Cate, needs to know what this goddess of a woman tastes like. Her tongue flicks out, dragging across her palm and a moan rips from her throat when the sweet and salty taste registers on her tongue. Eagerly she licks her hand and sucks on her fingers, desperate for every single drop.

A minute later Cate slowly lifts her head and Sandy relaxes her hold on her body. With her eyes still closed in a lazy bliss her lips find Sandy's and when she tastes herself on Sandy's tongue she moans into her mouth. 

“Wow.” Her mumbled whisper against Sandy's lips is a stroke for her ego and pride spreads through her at the thought of being the reason for Cate's obviously quite powerful orgasm. 

Cate’s lips softly glide over hers, gentle and sweet and Sandy sighs a little moan of satisfaction when she feels Cate’s hands on her cheeks, her fingers softly trailing over her skin.

“What do you want, Sandy?”

The words send a thrill through her. On a conscious level she knew of course, that lesbian sex is not restricted by a maximum number of orgasms or recuperation time. But she’s been with male sex partners for more than thirty years and the all around as normal considered procedure of one-orgasm-then-sleep is ingrained deeply in her subconscious. It delights her to find that this isn’t the end of their night together, that she gets to experience more of Cate.

“I’ll give you anything, just tell me what you want.”

Images flash through her mind, of all the things she’s seen on the internet and in books and all the things she’s dreamed of during the last two weeks. She remembers their phone call and how aroused she got when she realized that Cate would follow her every command and wait for her permission to come, if she asked her to. She sees fragments of her dreams, of Cate kneeling above her head, dripping down on her face, and of Cate fucking her with a thick rubber cock until she can’t see straight anymore, then trading places and taking Sandy’s cock like a good girl, her hands tied behind her back. But what pops to the forefront of her mind, insistent and unrelenting, is what started this wonderful experience in the first place.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking... about-,” Quickly Sandy swallows to try and moisten her dry throat. “-about that text message I read... of Rooney missing your tongue.”

Cate grins slyly, almost smirking down at her before she kisses Sandy again. Soon her mouth starts wandering down Sandy's neck, sucking over where her pulse is racing, then further down until she can’t reach anymore. Cate slips off Sandy's lap.

“Scoot up!” Her accent is heavy and her voice a low rumble as she motions to the bed and Sandy does as she’s told, scooting up the bed until she’s lying in the middle of it. She props herself up on her elbows to watch Cate kneel on the edge of the bed, watch her as she starts kissing her ankle, then licking and nipping a way up until her hands land on Sandy's knees. With a slight push she parts Sandy’s legs, keeping their eyes connected all the while. 

She expects Cate’s lips to continue their previous journey, kissing up her legs but instead Cate kneels in between them. Her hands slowly stroke up and down her thighs as she leans forward and lets her tongue dip into Sandy’s belly button, swirling around for a moment before kissing further up the trembling body until her lips reach her breasts. Cate teases her nipples, dancing around them, then sucking and biting and licking them until Sandy is a heaving mess. She is still propped up on her elbows, her fingers gripping the sheets beneath them and her head is hanging low between her shoulders, watching Cate and her oh so talented tongue through hooded eyes.

Finally, as Sandy was almost about to direct Cate’s mouth back south, she abandons her breasts and starts kissing and sucking back down Sandy’s body. In the back of her mind Sandy registers the hickeys and bruises and she knows that they might present a problem during work, depending on what costumes she needs to wear next week, but as hard as she tries to care about them right now, she just can’t. Not with Cate’s mouth settling on the inside of her thigh and nipping its way closer to her wet pussy.

Cate is lying between her legs, gloriously naked, her hands on her upper thighs and her eyes holding her own, while kissing slowly up her inner thigh and Sandy thinks she might come from that sight alone. Cate finally reaches her destination, the flat of her tongue licking from her opening to her clit and a deep moan sounds through the room. In a reflex Sandy's hand flies up but she stops herself before it reaches Cate's head. She doesn’t want to push her. But then Cate's hand comes up and takes hers, pushing her fingers through blonde bangs, telling her non-verbally that it’s okay, all while never stopping to lick her and the thought alone drives Sandy insane.

Her strength is leaving her body and with a slight  _ ‘thump’ _ her elbows give way. Blindly she fumbles over her head, searching and finding a throw pillow to shove beneath her head so she can still watch the woman between her legs. 

“Fuck, Cate, you’re so good at this... Fuuuc-” Her curse gets caught in her groan as Cate engulfs her clit with her lips and gives a few experimental sucks. Her fingers trace through blonde hair while Cate slowly but thoroughly eats her out and Sandy can’t help but silently agree with Rooney: Cate's tongue should be declared one of the World’s Wonders. 

The slow rhythm of Cate’s tongue is not enough to push her to another climax but it still feels better than what her previous partners had attempted when they’d gone down on her. Whenever they’d tried, it had always been tiring for her. She had never been able to come from this alone, had always needed to help them along with her own fingers on her clit and the whole experience had never been satisfying enough that she wanted to endure it for more than a few minutes, always trying to reach her orgasm sooner rather than later. Now, though, Sandy feels like she could enjoy this for hours, the gentle teasing and the occasional jerk that sends shockwaves through her body. She feels herself thoroughly relax into the mattress, her fingers gently stroking through Cate’s strands and her eyes closing as she feels all stress and tension leave her body.

It feels like they’ve been like this forever, could’ve been hours for all she knows. Sandy feels hotter and more out of breath, feels more electricity pumping through her veins and she wonders how Cate managed to build up the pressure so slowly that she didn’t even notice. She feels Cate shift and hears the sheets rustle before her legs are shoved further apart and up, so Cate can slip beneath them. She is gripping her thighs from beneath and this position seems to give her more room to work because suddenly her licks reach a lot deeper and further. 

Sandy opens her eyes and looks down again to where Cate has positively buried her face in her pussy, her chin and nose and cheeks glistering with her juices. For a moment Sandy worries that Cate might get a cramp in her jaw but a second later Cate does that thing with her tongue again, where she flicks it over her clit while simultaneously sucking it into her mouth and all thoughts leave her head. Her hands tighten in Cate’s hair and her hips cant up and Cate has to move one hand to her hip to hold it down.

Embarrassingly soon Sandy feels herself approaching her orgasm and she’s not sure how she suddenly went from feeling so relaxed to tethering on the edge of climax within mere minutes but she guesses that Cate’s had practise in getting Rooney off quickly between scenes. Her soft sighs and small whimpers from before have turned into quiet moans and whispered curse words. Cate shows off all her tricks and by the looks of it she feels immensely smug about Sandy’s reactions to them. At a particularly strong suck Sandy’s fingers form into a fist, pulling in reflex, and when she feels Cate moan against her outer folds, she repeats the action, thrilled to find out that Cate likes her hair pulled during sex.

“Nnnghh, Cate… please!”

She doesn’t care that she is begging, she would plead and whine without shame if that was what it’d take for Cate to finally get her off and she is glad that Cate doesn’t feel like teasing tonight because soon enough she feels her double down on her clit, her licks becoming quicker and her sucks getting stronger. Sandy isn’t sure how it’s even possible, how she can make her feel even closer to orgasm without tumbling over and how she still has the strength in her jaw to keep going but she sure as hell isn’t complaining about it.

“Yess, yes, please… Caate-” Her whiny cry of Cate’s name turns into a deep, loud moan when she feels that finishing suck she needed and finally,  _ finally  _ feels the sweet waves of orgasm wash through her. Her body arches off the bed and her fingers grab the bed sheets in an iron grip, her other hand holding Cate’s hair in a tight grip, pulling her closer. All air leaves her lungs and when the intense, blinding whiteness lifts from her mind again, she desperately gasps for air.

Sandy feels like deflating on the bed and sleeping for three days but Cate seems to have other plans. She hasn’t even come down from her orgasm yet, still feels her body convulsing from the aftershocks that race through her veins when she feels two soft fingers at her clit, first circling it slowly, then gaining speed and rhythm. Cate’s tongue glides through her folds, digging deep and far and leaving no inch of her pussy untouched. Once again a strong wave drags through her, an explosion of sensation that starts at her clit and travels her whole body as if in slow motion. 

When Sandy can breathe again she contemplates if she really just came a second time so shortly after her last orgasm or if Cate just amplified her aftershocks. In the end, it doesn’t matter since she finds herself unable to calm down from this second climax either. Cate has slipped her hand underneath her leg and started to let her fingers glide through her folds, coating them in the juices that Sandy feels sticking to her everywhere and that have already created a wet spot beneath her ass.

With a shuddering groan Sandy opens her eyes and finds Cate’s. She wants to tell her that she can’t take any more, that she’s completely spent and exhausted but her lips won’t form the words, only pushing out a breathy moan. Cate smiles smugly, a dangerous twinkle in her eyes as she slowly pushes two long fingers into her pussy. 

“Oh god, Cate… I can’t-”

Instantly her nerve endings are set aflame again, the quiet, slow aftershocks jumping into frizzling electricity. Sandy's body arches, her fingers fisting blonde hair and she quickly opens her eyes to look at Cate, who’s watching her closely, her tongue flicking out to lick the sensitive skin of her folds. Sandy wants to protest again, sure that she can’t handle another orgasm tonight but her body disagrees, already racing to the next climax as Cate’s fingers slowly speed up. Without her approval her hips start moving, grinding herself against Cate’s face. 

Still hyper sensitive from her last climax, it takes less than five minutes for Sandy to reach the edge of the next one. She pulls on Cate's hair, then pushes her mouth a bit up and towards her clit that has so far been avoided by Cate's tongue. She wants to scream at her, wants to demand in a steely voice that if she’s gonna do this, she should do it right and stop teasing her, but all she manages is a breathless plea. “Please!” 

Since she can’t seem to voice her dominance Sandy settles for acting it out. She pulls on Cate’s hair again, a bit more forceful than before and gets instantly rewarded with a deep growl she can feel vibrate against her clit. Cate’s eyes roll up and to the back of her head and even though she didn’t order it verbally, Cate quickly moves to comply with her command, curling her fingers and sucking on her clit, giving Sandy everything she needs to once again feel an orgasm wash through her, the exquisite pleasure clouding her mind as her body tenses up.

It takes a minute or two for Sandy to open her eyes. She finds Cate on the bed next to her, her hand gently stroking her skin, from her thigh to her torso, her arms and chest, over her breasts and collarbone and down again, dipping in her belly button, softly traveling up and down her body. When she notices Sandy watching her, she leans in and kisses her. Sandy moans as she tastes herself on Cate's tongue, though she notices that the rest of Cate’s face is wiped clean, probably on the bed sheets or blanket. She lays her arm around Cate and pulls her closer against her, enjoying the soft curves against her own.

“I want to taste you too,” she mumbles, only now realizing the fatigue clouding her mind and pulling on her body. Cate kisses her again, her tongue lazily stroking over her own. 

“Next time, love.” Cate's voice is loving and sweet and quiet against her lips. Sandy feels sleep pull on her, quickly dragging her from consciousness. She moves on her side, with her head using Cate's outstretched arm as a pillow and her arms tighten around Cate who willingly cuddles up against her.

“Yes, next time. Let’s do this again soon.” She isn’t sure how much of her words are intelligible but she feels Cate nod against her as sleep finally overtakes her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight good news: I have finished the outline for this whole story so instead of "lets just type and see where this is going", I have now a plan including up's and down's and so soo so much smut, yeay!  
> Slight bad news: The outline spans currently over 16 chapters and I really hope I don't lose motivation or interest in the story before I manage to write it all.


	5. “I guess I’ll have to be quick then.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandy and Cate find things to do while waiting on set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so this is a short one, I hope you don't mind.  
> Thanks for all the lovely comments you left me, I absolutely love every single one of them!

“How long did it take you to figu-” “Cut!”

Gary’s voice booms through the room and Mindy closes her mouth as they all look over to the director. “Cut cut cut! Brad, the lighting is off again!”

For a moment they all sit and watch, waiting for further instructions, while the room around them comes to life with assistants and designers and technicians, all flitting around, shouting and waving with various items. Instantly a young woman appears next to Rih and starts fuzzing with her hair, tucking it this way and that way, then laying it behind her shoulder and pulling out a make-up brush to flick over her forehead. Next to her, Nora has taken out her phone, her thumb flying over it so fast it reminds her of Roman at the dinner table when he  _ ‘just needs to send this one text real quick’ _ . Mindy and Sarah just sit there, for now simply waiting patiently for any kind of information, though Cate notices a slight bounce in Sarah’s leg, her bubbly and loud nature trying to break through the tight and strict character of Tammy. 

Cate’s eyes flick over to Sandy and find her already looking back at her. Half her face is hidden behind her mug of tea, but there is a definite twinkle in her eyes, a dangerous glint that hints at dirty thoughts and naughty plans.

Cate’s eyebrows rise in surprise before she quickly looks away and takes a moment to school her features. When she looks back at Sandy, she is still watching her, her gaze intense and unwavering. Within a second her veins are buzzing. She knows that look.

It’s been two and a half weeks since Andrew and her had joined Sandy for dinner at her townhouse and in this short amount of time she has learned to read even the slightest tells in Sandy’s features. She had been delighted to find that Sandy was eager to learn, studying her intently, copying her, asking questions and following instructions. She may not have had the experience that Cate had brought to the table but she is enthusiastic to make up for it with dedication and a sexual hunger that matches her own.

Cate can feel her throat drying up and once again she forces herself to break Sandy’s gaze. Her eyes fall on her castmates who have started a light conversation, some easy small talk to pass the time. Nora is showing Sarah and Rih something on her phone when Gary comes up to them with a slight frown between his brows.

“I’m sorry ladies, I’m afraid this one is going to take a bit.” In the corner of her eyes she sees Mindy slump a bit in her seat while Sandy puts down her mug. “Brad is looking into it. In the meantime, why don’t you take a 15-minute break?”

There is some affirmative murmur coming from her castmates and Cate marvels as she watches Sarah transform from Tammy back into herself. She only lets her character go when she knows their break is for more than just a few minutes but when she does, the change is stunning to observe. Out of the seven of her colleagues Sarah’s character is the least like her portrayer and watching her friend slip in and out of the role makes Cate realize time and time again what an amazing actress Sarah is.

Sarah nods at Gary, then makes a short comment that has Nora and Mindy laughing, their faces split with joy at the funny face that Sarah pulls. Cate has no idea what they’re talking about. A piercing headache has been growing behind her eyes for hours and she feels strangely detached from the people around her. This whole day hasn’t been her best one, now that she thinks about it. It had started shortly before lunch, a fuzzy haze that has settled over her brain, a frizzle of electricity that’s been running beneath her skin, leaving her anxious and restless and unable to concentrate.

In the corner of her eye Cate watches as Sandy gets up from her armchair and excuses herself. Their eyes meet in a quick glance and with a last meaningful look in her direction Sandy walks off set. Soon enough Rih, Mindy, Nora and Sarah have risen and are on their way to the backlog to catch some fresh air. Cate watches them as they make a few steps, before Nora turns around and with a questioning look on her face asks her, “You comin’, Cate?”

Startled, she looks up and finds four pairs of eyes on her, waiting for her to accompany them outside. “Oh uhm no, I think I’ll...” For a moment Cate stumbles over her words. Her eyes flick from one to the other, restless and unsure, before she lamely finishes her excuse. “I’ll call Andrew. I haven’t spoken to him all day.” 

“A’ight.” Nora hops around the armchair that Mindy had been sitting in and jogs after the other three women, obviously satisfied with Cate’s answer. As she looks after the young woman, she catches a glimpse of Sarah in the corner of her eye and she resolutely doesn’t meet her gaze. She knows what she’d find there and she has neither the time nor the desire to deal with her friend’s suspicions right now. Without further hesitation Cate gets up and wanders off in the opposite direction of where Nora, Mindy and Rih have already disappeared to. 

She walks quickly and soon finds herself in a secluded corner of a rarely used set. She passes only two assistant technicians on her way and as soon as she rounds the last corner she feels Sandy’s arm around her waist, pulling her into a tucked away spot between two empty bookshelves. Instantly her lips are on hers, nipping and sucking, begging for entry. 

“What took you so long?” 

It’s a rhetorical question as her lips are immediately covered again, unable to form an answer. Sandy’s hands quickly find her breasts, slipping past the countless necklaces of her costume and inside the yellow blouse to palm her through her bra. A low moan escapes her throat before she can hold it back. 

“Quiet, babe.” The term of endearment sends a shiver down her spine. Cate feels Sandy’s lips on her jaw, trailing along to her ear while her leg slips in between hers, effectively pinning her to the bookshelf behind her. “We have thirteen minutes. How often do you think I can make you come in that time?” Sandy’s voice is like velvet, hot and smooth in her ear and her leg presses forward, applying pressure where Cate feels herself getting wet.

“Ten-” She forces her voice to be stronger than she feels. “Ten minutes, tops. Sarah’s already too suspicious.” With one small step Sandy puts some space between their bodies, her hands leaving her breasts and quickly falling down to her pants, working the button and fly, then pushing her hand in, all within a few seconds. Cate swallows the deep groan that builds inside her and lets her head fall back against the bookshelf. 

“I guess I’ll have to be quick then,” she hears the husky whisper against her ear. Sandy wastes no time with foreplay, can feel that Cate is wet enough already. The excitement of their location, the rush of the time pressure, the danger of getting caught; it all adds to Cate’s arousal and soon she can do nothing but cling to Sandy with a desperate grip as she feels two fingers slip deep inside her.

“Oh god!” 

She relishes the slightly painful stretch of Sandy’s fingers in her unprepared pussy. Her hips start thrusting in a desperate rhythm and she has to bite her bottom lip fiercely to keep herself from crying out loud.

“I wanna feel you quiver beneath me, Cate.” Sandy’s words send shockwaves through her body. She feels her eyes roll up and to the back of her head and she tightens her grip around Sandy’s neck and shoulder. “I want you to have to bury your face in my neck because you can’t hold your scream.” A particularly hard thrust tears a groan from her and it takes all of her concentration to turn it into a quiet, needy whimper. “I want all the tension to leave your body, want you to come so hard you’re left with nothing but a hazy glow in your eyes.” This time Cate can’t mute her moan anymore. She lets her head fall forward, her cheek resting on Sandy’s shoulder and her slightly parted lips pressed against her neck. “I know you need it, babe,” Sandy murmurs in her ear, her voice suddenly much softer and caring and Cate barely catches a breathy sob before it leaves her lips. “I’ve been watching you all afternoon.”

Harsh, irregular breaths push through her slightly parted lips and she knows she won’t hold out much longer. Sandy is right, she does need this release, desperately even. “Please, Sandy.” 

Cate feels herself starting to fall apart at the seams, only thin threads still holding her composure together. She needs Sandy’s thumb on her clit but can’t form the words, only hitched whimpers and breathy moans leaving her lips. She almost cries in relief when Sandy understands her anyways and presses her thumb on her pulsing nub, then draws small, tight circles around it. A single tear slips down her cheek as the immense pleasure and overwhelming bliss overtakes her body less than a minute later. She buries her face in Sandy’s neck, her low groan muffled by the light grey sweater she is wearing for their current scene, and she loses herself in the blazing fire that races along her skin as she falls apart in Sandy’s strong arms.

It feels like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders, the insistent tingle beneath her skin gone and replaced with a hazy fuzz that’s clouding her mind for a completely different reason. She feels boneless and calm, a deep relaxing peace permeating her body, and she whimpers softly when Sandy starts kissing her neck, gently guiding her back to the present. A shudder races through her when Sandy removes her fingers from her pussy, careful to not smear any of her juices on either of their costumes. 

“Come on, babe. Time’s up,” Sandy whispers in her ear. With a deep drag of air Cate pulls herself up, takes her weight off Sandy’s body and leans back against the bookshelf. She watches Sandy as she quickly licks her fingers clean, then closes first her pants and then her blouse, making her presentable again in record time. Cate still feels blissed out but she knows that Sandy is right; their time is up. With a shaky hand she pulls Sandy’s lips to hers, enclosing them in a quick but deep kiss before mumbling against them. “Thank you.”

Sandy presses another quick, sweet kiss to her lips, then gives her a smile. She nods once, then quickly leaves their little hiding spot. Cate listens to her retreating steps and takes a few extra seconds to breathe in, long and deep, before releasing the air with a quiet  _ woosh _ . Then she takes out her phone, turns on the camera app and quickly checks her appearance. Her face looks flushed and her eyes seem more alive than half an hour earlier. Luckily, Lou doesn’t have a complicated hairstyle so Cate just threads her fingers through the blonde strands a few times to make herself look in character again.

A last look at the time tells her that it’s been 17 minutes since Gary sent them on a break. With a quick step she makes her way back to the main set where she finds all her colleagues already back in position. As she approaches the stage she watches Sarah ask Sandy something she can’t understand but she can imagine what it was by the way Sandy shakes her head innocently and answers with a slight shrug in her shoulder. “No, haven’t seen her.”

“There she is!” Mindy waves across the set and everyone turns towards her. For a second Cate gets self-conscious, afraid that she might have missed a detail on her costume or her make-up, something that might tell everyone what she’s been up to. Then she takes a deep breath and lets the new-found calmness settle over her again. 

“Sorry guys, I got my kids on the phone and forgot the time.” She sends everyone an apologetic smile, then sits down in the armchair that’s her mark for this scene, glad to see that everybody seems to accept her apology readily.

A quick glance at Sarah confirms her fear that her friend isn’t as believing as everyone else, though. Cate quickly glances away again and finds Sandy’s eyes instead. She sends her a quick, caring smile, then turns back to Mindy and continues her conversation with her, acting as if she hadn’t just fucked her brains out in a secluded corner a few rooms over. Her eyes flit back to Sarah who is still watching her closely. This time she holds her gaze, using all her experience to not give anything away and finally, after several heartbeats, Sarah looks away, obviously not having found any proof of her suspicion.

An assistant appears before her, quickly flicking her face with a make-up brush and fixing her hair with a few dabs of a comb. Then Gary’s voice booms across the large room and within seconds everyone is back in position, ready to start rolling again. 


	6. “I hope you had your fun, because now it’s my turn.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cate teases Sandy all day long until she finally snaps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates!  
> Sorry for the long wait and I'm afraid there will be a bit of a wait for the next chapter too bc it's not finished yet and I'm starting work again in January. But I will try to keep at it.
> 
> This is, once again, dedicated to the amazing ladies of the Discord server who always try their best to keep me motivated. I love you, gays!

It starts innocently enough, at lunch. 

Sandy is at the buffet table, fork in one hand and plate in the other, trying to pick out the rare pieces of kiwi from the fruit platter and laying them on her plate when she feels someone come up behind her. She recognizes her instantly, her perfume is a dead give-away, and she enjoys the warm body and seductive curves pressing against her side before she remembers where they are and the dozens of people around them. She thinks about stepping away but then she sees Cate’s arm extend past her and towards the bread rolls and she thinks that jumping away now would only draw attention to Cate’s seemingly innocent gesture.

“You look so delicious in this dress, I get all sorts of ideas when I look at you.” 

A shiver runs down her spine at the smooth, velvety texture of Cate's voice close to her ear. “The way it makes your legs seem endless, I just wanna push them apart and bury my face between them,” she murmurs quietly, just loud enough for Sandy to hear, with a voice like liquid sex that’s oozing down Sandy's body and straight to her core. The fact that she whispers these words while casually picking out her lunch, acting as if she was talking about the roquefort cheese and not some lewd sexual fantasy, only makes it hotter. “I wanna lick you up, baby, eat you out, let your juices run down my chin.” 

“Oh god, please stop.” 

Cate’s words send Sandy's head reeling and her heart racing. Within seconds arousal has taken hold of her body and she feels torn between her want for more and the fear of being overheard. Quickly her eyes dart around them and with a shaky breath finds nobody in their immediate vicinity. Sandy’s pulse speeds up, her breath quickens and she closes her eyes to try and suppress the moan that’s building in her throat. “I can’t wait to get my mouth on you, babe, to suck on your clit, hard and fast, just the way you like it, until you cum on my mouth.” 

“Fuck!”

Through the hazy fog of arousal, Sandy watches as Cate picks up an orange and casually lays two cheese sticks on the plate next to her bread roll. Then she steps back, turns around and as if their conversation has just been about the wide selection of organic food at today’s buffet, she saunters over to the table where Helena, Annie and James are already sitting and eating their lunch.

**

The second time is only twenty minutes later.

Sandy is in deep conversation with Annie about a child-protection-project in New Orleans when Cate sits down on the empty seat beside her and offers them both some cupcakes with light blue frosting. For a second Sandy is apprehensive. Then she concludes that Cate wouldn’t pick up her dirty talk again with Annie sitting right next to them and with a small smile she relaxes, picks one of the offered cupcakes and tunes back into her conversation with Annie. 

She feels Cate’s hand on the inside of her thigh in the same moment Annie mentions her planned charity trip to east Asia next year and she’s glad that the sudden jerk of her body and the surprised sound she can’t suppress can easily be mistaken as enthusiastic encouragement. Within a second Sandy has checked their surroundings and found that Cate has moved her chair so close that nobody behind them would be able to see her wandering hand and since Sandy is leaning with her elbows against the edge of the table, Annie’s gaze is also obscured from the naughty teasing. 

Cate doesn’t lose any time. Her hand reaches the apex of Sandy's legs within a heartbeat and Sandy has to put all her concentration into concealing her reactions. On instinct her legs part to make room for Cate's hand, then she realizes what she’s doing and presses them tightly together instead. Her reaction doesn’t deter Cate in the slightest though, as she simply wriggles her fingers from between Sandys’s tense thighs. She teases her through her thin, black pants, switching between raking her nails over her thighs, flicking her thumb over her pulsing clit and digging two fingers in between her legs to rub her swollen lips.

“God-,” Sandy shudders, unable to keep up the pretense of her conversation with Annie and the suppressing of her reaction at the same time. 

“I know, right? I thought so too, and that’s when I decided to…”

With her last two functioning brain cells Sandy thanks whatever deity is listening for Annie’s readiness to accept any of her reactions as genuine interest. She’s not sure what Annie is telling her at the moment but she hopes that their lunch break will be over soon because she’s not sure how much longer this can go on before her younger colleague catches on to what is happening underneath the table.

Her prayers are answered when they hear Gary’s assistant coming up to them to remind Cate of her costume fitting in five minutes. With a smile and a nod Cate removes her hand from between Sandy's legs and rises from the table. She excuses herself politely before walking off, leaving Sandy both relieved and disappointed.

**

By the third time she should really have been more prepared.

She spends her afternoon with James shooting the diner scene. She knows that she won’t see Cate until the early evening when they’ll both be done with their separate schedules and for once she’s glad about it. She really can’t have James Corden notice anything just because Cate is in a teasing, playful mood; even though he has been nothing but friendly and respectful so far, the man is still a talk show host.

They’re waiting for some technicians to finish their preparations, both of them on their phones, lazily scrolling through the news and occasionally talking about articles they just read when Sandy sees a notification popping up, signaling a new voicemail. The message indicates the length of the voicemail at more than ten minutes so she flicks it away, vowing to listen to it later. 

It’s another few minutes before another notification pops up, this time telling her that Cate has sent her some messages. Without thinking too much about it, her finger moves up to tap the notification. 

What she finds are eight pictures and even though she knows that she will most likely regret it, her finger has already tapped on the first to enlarge it. It’s a close up of Cate's chest, framing from her collarbone to a lace-covered breast, a long finger holding the neckline of her blouse to the side. Sandy swipes to the left and finds a picture of a nipple, hard and pebbled and enclosed between two manicured fingers.

With a hard swallow she swipes on. She knows she shouldn’t, knows that it will only leave her aroused and needy but as hard as she might try she can’t bring herself to close the app.

The next picture shows Cate's hand flat against her naked stomach, her blouse now completely unbuttoned and her fingers just dipping beneath the hem of her black leather pants. It’s followed by a picture of the same hand fiddling with the button of the pants and one showing the hand beneath the thin fabric of a white thong, no black leather pants in sight anymore. 

For a moment Sandy squeezes her eyes shut, leans back in her seat and lets out a deep breath. Her breath is starting to come quick and short, and she uses the moment to try to get her arousal back under control. After all, James is still sitting right next to her and she’s pretty sure that one look at her would give him way too much insight into her current state of mind.

Sandy lets two minutes pass before she activates her phone’s screen again and swipes to the left. The next picture shows Cate’s thumb holding the soaked fabric of the thong to the side, and two long, elegant fingers, buried between dripping folds. With a shaky breath Sandy swipes on and finds the next photo: The thong is gone and the fingers are now buried knuckles deep inside Cate’s wet pussy, with her thumb laying over her glistening clit. 

In a desperate attempt to dim the arousal swirling around in her brain, she takes her bottom lip between her teeth and bites. Consciously she knows that the wisest course of action would be to close the app and go back to reading the news again, relying on their depressing nature to neutralize her arousal. On the other hand, there is only one picture left and Sandy tells herself that it won’t be able to ruin her that much more. 

Sandy reaches the last picture as she feels a new wave of wetness between her legs, definitely soaking her panties and hoping it won’t be enough to seep through them. She’s biting the inside of her cheek now, in the hope to appear less obvious, and hears her racing pulse rushing in her ears. It shows Cate's index and middle fingers, both held up against a pair of full, pink lips that she’d recognize anywhere. They’re dripping with the slick of her arousal, covered from the knuckles to the tips, which are being licked by a wet tongue.

“Jesus, fuck!”

“Hm?” With a startle Sandy remembers her surroundings and James, who looks up at her with a questioning look on his face. Quickly, Sandy hits the home button to make the picture disappear, then puts her phone face-down on the table for good measure. She takes a deep breath, resolutely not looking at James out of fear that he might spot the arousal in her eyes. After a quick moment of panic Sandy tries to school her features, then offers James a pained expression and a short-clipped explanation: “Trump.”

“Ah yes..” James nods in understanding agreement, then concentrates back on his phone. For the rest of their waiting period Sandy restlessly taps her finger against the table top, her leg bouncing with an uncontrolled energy that’s coursing through her veins, impatiently waiting for Gary to call ‘Action’. She needs this day to end, and soon!

**

The fourth time, it’s her own damn fault.

It’s the late afternoon when they finally finish the diner scene and Sandy gets to leave. Her schedule shows a long break before they’re all supposed to meet to film the subway scene in the evening. Luckily it doesn’t call for any dialogue or heavy acting. Really, they only need to sit or stand in the spots Gary indicates for them. 

With an eager step Sandy slips into the waiting car that has been hired to bring her to and from the location shootings. The driver closes the door and Sandy lets out a deep sigh. 

For the first ten minutes of the drive Sandy enjoys the silence around her. Her gaze is directed at nothing in particular as she lets the weight of the already long day roll from her shoulders. Her phone vibrates in her pocket and as she takes a quick look at the group chat and the cat video that Mindy’s sent them, she remembers the voicemail she’s received a few hours ago.

With a few taps of her finger she opens the app and the voicemail, bringing the phone to her ear. In the back of her head she realizes that this is the worst possible idea, seeing as the voicemail is from Cate, but the horny part of Sandy's brain justifies the action with the fact that she’ll be back in the privacy of her trailer within the next twenty minutes anyways.

“Hey babe, I miss you.”

The sound of Cate's voice sends a shiver down her spine, low and heavy and with the most husky drawl to her Australian accent. By now, Sandy knows this voice very well. This is what Cate sounds like when she’s aroused and having very naughty thoughts. “I’ve been thinking about you all afternoon. I’m sitting here, in your trailer and I’m waiting for you, but babe… I’m so horny already, I don’t think I can wait much longer.”

“Shit,” Sandy groans under her breath. Her eyes fall closed as she listens to Cate's voice, her words painting a colorful picture in her mind. With a quick glance she makes sure the driver didn’t hear her over the noise of the traffic, then she scoots to the side and slightly down in her seat, trying to escape the scope of the rear mirror and therefore the driver’s gaze.

When she concentrates back on the voicemail, Cate is in the middle of describing where her free hand is currently traveling. “Oh babe, you should see me right now, I know you love this bra. I’ll take a picture for you, wait a second.” The quiet sound of a camera shutter goes off, then Cate is back on the phone. “God, my nipples are so hard already, Sandy.. you wanna see those too?”

The one-sided conversation goes on like this. Cate's voice grows heavier and more breathless with every passing minute and Sandy feels her pulse match the quick pants of Cate's breath. “I wanna do this slowly, babe, but I’m already so turned on, I can’t wait.” Sandy hears the camera shutter go off again and from Cate’s words she gathers that this must be the picture of her hand slipping beneath the leather pants. 

Knowing what will happen next, already spoiled by the pictures, only makes it harder for Sandy to keep her cool. When she hears the rustling of Cate taking off her pants she lets a tiny whimper slip past her lips. She props her elbow up against the cool window of the car and lays her hand half across her face, trying to make it look as if she’s massaging her temples and forehead. It gives her the opportunity to bite her lips and let out the harsh pants of her breath without it being too obvious, should the driver adjust the rear mirror.

“Mhmm, this is much better, with the pants gone I can finally spread my legs and rub by cunt - god, it feels so good, Sandy.” Cate’s voice is taking her on a trip she already knows parts of and everytime she hears the camera go off, the resulting picture flashes before her inner eye. She can vividly picture Cate, writhing and thrusting her hips as her fingers slide through her dripping wet folds and it takes everything inside Sandy to not drop her hand to her own wet pussy.

“Fuck, Sandy, I’m so wet, so so wet–” A few minutes later Cate is practically purring into her ear. “–I’m imagining your fingers instead of mine, I need you so bad, Sandy, please fuck me!”

A low moan escapes Sandy's lips. She feels even more wetness pooling in her panties as she listens to Cate getting herself off, her words getting more and more unintelligible, broken again and again by her name, growled with a desperate urgency. Her moans and curses and the sounds of her needy whimpers bring Sandy to the edge of her control and only the knowledge that she’ll find Cate in her trailer in less than ten minutes keeps her from getting herself off in this car.

“Fuck fuck, babe, I’m gonna- oh god, yess.. Sandy!” 

Sandy is a whimpering, mewling mess, unable to keep herself together. A quick gaze out of the window tells her that they’ll be arriving back on set within a few minutes and she checks the phone display to see how much of the voicemail is still left. Luckily it’s almost finished and for the last 40 seconds Sandy gets to listen to Cate’s harsh breaths and soft whimpers. 

With a click on the power button Sandy turns off the app and screen and uses the remaining two minutes of the car ride to take long, deep breaths, trying her best to make herself appear less aroused to anyone who might see her on her way from the car to her trailer. 

**

“...anyways, what do you think?”

With a slight startle Sandy looks up to find Gary’s expectant look directed at her. His hands are fiddling with a well handled copy of the script and his glasses are perched low on the tip of his nose.

“Sure, sounds good.”

In all honesty Sandy has no clue what Gary is talking about. She’s been aroused for hours now and just as she had exited the car and made her way to her trailer, Gary had caught up with her, asking her for a few minutes of her time to discuss his thoughts on a scene they were scheduled to film tomorrow. She doesn’t really care though, only nodding and humming along when it feels right, while trying her best not to let her thoughts stray too far into dangerous territory. It’s torture. The few minutes have now turned into twenty and Sandy is not sure how much longer she can keep up the pretense of interest. 

“Perfect, then let’s meet in my office in half an hour, alright?”

It sounds like the conversation might come to an end and Sandy's mood instantly perks up. Then she registers Gary’s words and feels her mood plummet again. Half an hour? She was supposed to have a break of at least two hours and was going to spend it holed up in her trailer. Still, she forces a small smile on her lips before nodding at her boss. She’ll have to figure out what Gary wants later. For now, she really needs to get to her trailer.

“Wonderful, see you later!” 

With that Sandy turns and starts a brisk pace towards the backlog, crosses it quickly and makes her way to the outer lot where all the trailers are situated. She reaches her own within mere minutes and quickly hurries up the three metal steps before anyone else can see and stop her. 

With a bit too much force, Sandy throws the door shut behind her, her eyes fixed on the person sitting on her couch. Cate has her phone in one hand, lazily scrolling through it, while her other hand lies between her legs, slowly and softly stroking herself through her black leather pants.

“You!” Sandy's voice is like steel, hard and unwavering and not accepting any objection. “On the bed, now!”

With a satisfaction she sees Cate react to her words instantly. Her pupils dilate, drowning the light blue color and making her eyes appear dark and intrigued. She quickly puts her phone down on the couch, gets up and takes three large steps to the back of the trailer. With hungry eyes and a smug grin on her lips she sits down on the bed.

“You think this was funny?” The question is obviously rhetorical and Sandy holds Cate's dark eyes in an icy gaze as she leans down and brings her hands to the hem of her designer dress. “All those comments, those whispers in my ear, the pictures? You think those were funny?” Her hands sneak up beneath the dress and in the next moment Sandy wriggles her hips, pushes and tears and soon she slips her thong down her long, naked legs, carefully stepping her high heeled feet out of them. “Well, I hope you had your fun, because now it’s my turn.”

Sandy rights herself and flicks the underwear to the side, not caring where it lands. Her eyes are still holding Cate's, closely watching how visibly turned on she gets at her little strip tease. 

“Lie down,” she orders as she slowly walks across the tiny living space and into the even smaller bedroom. Sandy feels a jolt of electricity run down her body and collect between her legs at the eager way Cate complies, without hesitation and so keen on bowing to her will.

“You’ve been using your hands and your mouth to drive me crazy all day long.” 

Sandy lets her eyes rake over Cate's perfect curves, over her breasts and down to her legs that are restlessly rubbing against each other, trying to create some friction. When her eyes find Cate's again, there is a smug glint in them as if she feels so proud of having managed to tease Sandy like that. 

“Now I’m in control of them,” Sandy growls darkly. Her voice is an octave deeper than before, her arousal spiking tenfold at the submissive way Cate follows her commands. With measured movements Sandy pulls up her dress and bunches it up around her hips. She kneels on the bed next to Cate's body, then slowly swings one leg over her and inches higher. She traps Cate's hands beneath her shins, effectively pinning them down. With a final nudge she brings her knees right next to Cate's head and watches Cate swallow her obvious lust and hunger as she finds Sandy's dripping pussy right above her. “Now find something useful to do with that filthy mouth of yours!”

Slowly Sandy lowers herself onto Cate's face, careful not to crush or suffocate her but not going easy on her either. At the first brush of Cate's tongue over her folds, Sandy moans deeply and her hand flies to Cate's head, her fingers holding the blonde strands in a vice grip.

“Fuck, yess.” 

She should feel embarrassed by how quickly she hurls towards her orgasm, already teetering on the edge after just a few minutes of Cate's ministrations, but to be fair, Cate had made sure that she’s been wet for several hours now. Her hips start grinding on Cate's face, rubbing herself against her chin and nose, impatiently looking for friction. She uses her second hand to hold herself up against the wall, using the stability to fasten her thrusts. She is unashamedly riding Cate's face, lifting her hips only every so often to make sure Cate gets enough oxygen before resuming her quick pace. 

Soon she finds herself desperate to come, edging along that fine line but unable to fall over. With a needy sob she pulls on Cate's hair, reveling in the low growl that vibrates against her cunt.

“I’m so close, oh god–” Sandy feels her energy starting to drain, leaving her even more desperate to come. She knows she just needs that tiny nudge and she’s not ashamed to request it. “–suck me hard!”

Instantly Cate takes her clit in between her lips and starts drawing it in, sucking her like her life depends on it and within a few more seconds Sandy feels her orgasm roll over her, crashing waves of pleasure drowning her and ripping one deep moan after the other from her lungs. 

When she feels herself relax again, she makes sure to move herself off Cate's face, slumping next to her head and against the wall instead. Her breath comes in quick, short pants and her body is still wrecked by aftershocks. Slowly, she opens her eyes to find Cate watching her with lust and desire written all over her face, her breath coming just as quick and short as her own. Her chin and nose are covered with her arousal, making her look even more delicious. 

Slowly, Sandy raises her hand and lays it against Cate's cheek, her thumb wiping across her lips and chin. Then she brings her hand to her own lips and licks it clean, moaning quietly at the familiar taste of herself. Needing more, she leans forward and captures Cate's lips in a messy kiss, their tongues fighting for dominance as Sandy moves her body above Cate's. 

With an obscene sound their lips separate and Sandy moves to the side, sliding off the bed. 

“Babe?” Cate's voice is rough and husky and so confused as she watches Sandy pull down her dress and fix her appearance. With an evil glint in her eyes Sandy turns back to her.

“Oh no, I’m not getting you off after that stunt you pulled today.” She smirks at the dismayed look of horror on Cate's face. “Besides, I heard you already took care of that yourself and I really need to get going. Gary wants me in his office in–” She takes a quick look at her wrist to check the time. “–in nine minutes, so if you want to come again, I fear you have to do it yourself again, honey.”

“You’re not serious!” 

Cate's face shows utter disbelief and desperation as Sandy turns around, makes her way back to the living area of the trailer and grabs her phone, that she dropped on the table upon her arrival. Her eyes flit across the trailer, then she quickly picks up her panties after having found them on the floor next to the couch, and pulls them on. With a wink and an air kiss in Cate's direction, Sandy quickly opens the door of her trailer and leaves, Cate's call of her name the last thing she hears before the door falls closed behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it.  
> Comments make the author write faster :D


	7. “Is it okay if we don’t have sex tonight?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandy makes an offer that throws Cate off a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever, especially seeing as it's such a short chapter.   
> Smut is so much easier to write than feelings and that's the unholy truth!

Cate sees the familiar building of the dry cleaner’s fly past the car window and takes her phone out of her pocket. Her cold fingers flit quickly over the screen as she sends a short text to announce her imminent arrival at Sandy's townhouse. It only takes a minute for Sandy to answer. 

_ “Did you bring dinner? Otherwise I might not let you in.” _

A quiet chuckle escapes Cate's lips as she types out her response, quickly assuring Sandy that two sandwiches from the organic deli on 18th street are lying in her lap.

Three minutes later the car comes to a stop in front of a beautiful, old townhouse and Cate thanks her driver before getting out and hurrying up the steps. Her knuckles haven’t even rapped against the wooden door twice when it flies open to reveal Sandy behind it, waving her inside and closing the door behind her, all while listening to what the person on the other end of her phone is saying.

“What? Oh no, that was just the food delivery. Keep going, I’m listening,” she mumbles as she squeezes the phone between her shoulder and ear so she can take the bag of food from Cate’s hands. 

Cate quickly takes off her shoes and jacket and slips into the soft, warm slippers that Sandy has lying around near the door in case of guests. Then she walks the short path that has become familiar by now to find Sandy at the kitchen counter, putting their sandwiches on plates and cutting them in half. With a soft smile, she comes up behind her and wraps her arms around her middle, pressing her body to Sandy's in an attempt to absorb some of her body heat.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Cheryl, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, alright?”

Cate listens patiently as Sandy wraps up her call with her publicist before pressing a few light kisses to her neck, not meant to mean any more than ‘hello’ and ‘I missed you’. Sandy lays her phone on the counter next to their plates and lets her head fall forward, giving Cate more room, as a small sigh slips from her lips. For a few moments neither speaks, but rather just soaks up the other’s presence after a long, exhausting day. Seconds go by and Cate feels herself relax against Sandy's warm body. She can still feel the cold of the day in her bones but it’s more bearable now that she holds Sandy in her arms. The calm is broken when her stomach rumbles and breaks the silence in the room.

“Come on, let’s eat.” Sandy stands up straight and takes the plates, one in each hand, to carry them into the living room. Cate quickly grabs two bottles of water out of the fridge and follows her. They settle down on the couch, each on opposite ends, and dig into their dinner. The conversation is quiet and easy but a bit slow going as they’re busy eating and it’s only once they’ve both finished their sandwiches fifteen minutes later that they start telling each other of their respective days.

They haven’t seen each other in two days because Sandy was busy shooting most of her scenes with Richard and Cate spent her time on location shooting her scenes with Rih, first inside the food truck and afterwards on a park bench in Central Park.

“It was freezing, my Australian anatomy really isn’t prepared for these brutal New York City temperatures.” Cate shudders, as if to emphasize her story. She feels a chill at the back of her neck, like the coldness from this afternoon still hasn’t left her body. “I’m just glad you opened the door as quickly as you did or I might have frozen to death in front of it,” she jokes and takes a quick pull from her water bottle. 

“You know, I’ve been thinking about that,” Sandy begins then stops herself from continuing and it takes Cate's questioning gaze to make her speak up again. “I’ve been thinking that you should probably have a spare key to this place.”

Instantly Cate’s eyebrows rise, disappearing behind her long, blonde bangs. To say she’s surprised would be an understatement and for a moment Cate doesn’t respond, a dozen thoughts per second going through her mind. Is Sandy trying to make this into something it shouldn’t be? This was never supposed to be more than a friendship with some extra fun, and a key usually holds more meaning than that. 

Before she can sort her thoughts though, let alone voice them, Sandy rambles on, trying to explain herself. “Just… just in case you get here before me, one day. Or if I’m not responding to your text because I’m in the shower right at that moment, you know?” The words come quick and without finesse, a stumbling mess that tells Cate how unsure her initial reaction must have made Sandy feel. Cate relaxes slightly, lowering her eyebrows again, and forces herself to think this through before jumping to any hasty conclusions.

She never had another woman’s key before. Though, now that she thinks about it, she realizes that it wouldn’t have made any sense with anyone else so far. With Gillian, every meeting started with a party they would then leave together so they would always arrive at whatever house or apartment at the same time. With Amy, they always met in a hotel and whoever got there first would text the room number to the other, then wait to open the door for them. Her situation with Rooney was probably the most similar to what she currently has with Sandy since they also started their relationship while they were still working together. But neither Rooney nor Cate had an apartment or townhouse nearby, so they both stayed at the hotel that the production company had set up for them and since they lived only a few doors down the hall from each other, an exchange of keys was never necessary.

For a while Cate mulls over her thoughts in silence. She watches Sandy pick at the label of her water bottle, resolutely not meeting her gaze, nervousness coming off her in obvious waves. Cate takes a deep breath. Maybe it would make sense for her to own a key to Sandy's townhouse. At least this way she would never have to wait outside in the cold for Sandy to open the door.

“Yeah, alright,” she agrees eventually, her head nodding slightly. She watches Sandy relax visibly, letting out a long breath and releasing her bottom lip from between her teeth. They share a small smile and after a short silence Cate picks up the remote control and turns on the TV. In the corner of her eye she watches Sandy trying to get more comfortable, folding her legs beneath her and throwing a thin blanket over her shoulders. Cate zaps through the channels for a while, then stops at some documentary about penguins and for a while they watch it in silence, both of them too tired to run a commentary like they usually would. 

After a few minutes of letting the soothing voice of the narrator calm her down, Cate wriggles a bit deeper into the cushions and props her legs up on the small couch table, tiredness starting to pull behind her eyes. Her gaze flies over to Sandy, who can’t seem to find a comfortable position. She is changing constantly, sitting this way and that way but never really settling down. It’s in this instant that Cate realizes how insecure her reaction must have made Sandy feel because usually Sandy wouldn’t hesitate to cuddle up against her. 

Cate bumps her foot against Sandy's knee and motions with her hand. 

“Come here.”

Instantly, Sandy follows the nod of her head and crawls to the other side of the couch. She snuggles up against Cate's frame, her head on Cate's collarbone and her leg thrown over Cate’s, and wraps them in the blanket she brought with her. Gently Cate lays her finger beneath Sandy's chin and pulls her in for a kiss. It’s slow and soft and sweet and not meant to go anywhere, but she needs to show Sandy that her proposal didn’t change anything between them, that she doesn’t have to be nervous around her. Cate's hands start wandering a bit, gently stroking over Sandy's skin, reveling in the heat that radiates off of her, before she settles down again and they continue watching the documentary. 

They stay like this for the next hour, cooing at fluffy little baby penguins and snorting when they stumble over their own tiny feet. A calmness has settled over them and the blanket is starting to slowly warm Cate's still cool hands where they softly dance over Sandy's back and side beneath the thin fleece fabric. From time to time one of them stretches to bring their lips to the other’s, basking in the freedom to share sweet little kisses whenever they feel like it. They start talking over the sounds of arctic winds and snowstorms, softly murmuring about mundane little things like a video Nora showed Sandy during a costume fitting or the herbal tea that Helena brought to set two days ago.

When the documentary ends, a big yawn is coming from Sandy and Cate follows soon after, unable and unwilling to hold it back. 

“Let’s get to bed, hm?” Cate whispers against Sandy's forehead and only receives a small nod in return. She turns off the TV and pulls the blanket off them, making Sandy whine sleepily as the cool air hits her body. With a soft chuckle Cate pushes Sandy off her and follows her into the kitchen. They put their dishes into the sink to deal with tomorrow, then turn off the lights and head upstairs, their feet dragging tiredly over the steps.

They brush their teeth while standing next to each other in the en-suite bathroom, side by side in front of the big mirror and the marble sink, and Cate lets her gaze travel over the counter and the shelf behind the faucet. Wherever she looks, she finds her own belongings scattered in between Sandy's; from a hairband next to Sandy's brush to a small tube of hand lotion in between Sandy's own moisturizers and she is surprised at how many little things have accumulated in the short five weeks they’ve started their relationship. 

Next to her Sandy finishes up, splashing warm water over her face and bringing Cate back to the present. Cate watches her as she dries her face and applies some moisturizer before giving her a small smile and returning to the bedroom. Cate spits into the sink and rinses and as she puts the toothbrush in the silver cup next to Sandy's, the severity of it all hits her. Sandy isn’t  _ trying  _ to make this into something more than it’s supposed to be. It already  _ is _ more than that. With Amy, Rooney and Gillian she’d never left a toothbrush at their places and she’d never stayed the night unless it had already been way too late to drive to her own house or hotel. When did Sandy and her turn into… this? Into girlfriends? When has their relationship gotten this domestic? 

Cate is unsure what to think about it, feels like a fish out of water. Slowly she opens the mirror cabinet and takes in all the evidence of their clearly not just friends-with-benefits relationship: there’s Sandy’s make-up bag that has both their brands of mascara and a tube of Cate’s lipgloss sticking out of it and next to it she finds a bottle of her favorite bubble bath. She didn’t put it there, didn’t bring it to Sandy’s place, but it seems like Sandy is very attentive and wanted to make sure it would be there in case she wanted to take a bath at her place… like any loving person might do for their girlfriend.

_ Shit! _

“Cate? Is everything alright?”

Sandy's voice filtering in from the other room stops her train of thought. Cate didn’t realize how long she must have stood there, staring at the bubble bath. She closes the cabinet and quickly answers in the affirmative, then washes her face and puts lotion on her hands. She throws one last look at her purple toothbrush that’s sticking out of the silver cup and leaning onto Sandy's green one, before turning off the light. When she exits the en-suite bathroom she finds Sandy sitting up in bed, her back against the headboard and her phone in her hand. She’s typing on it, only shortly looking up when Cate slips into bed next to her, sending her a soft smile before continuing to tap away.

For a few long seconds Cate just watches her. Sandy looks tired but there is an underlying happiness about her, a calmness that makes her seem more content than just two or three months ago, and Cate struggles with trying to figure her out. Does Sandy seem �happier because she’s in love with her? Or is she just more content because she’s sexually satisfied? 

With a small sigh Cate scoots down into the bed, pulling the blanket up to her chest and staring at the ceiling. Maybe she is overthinking this. If Sandy were in love with her, surely she would have said something, right? After all, she did agree to the rules of this agreement: honesty and trust. She should just trust Sandy to be honest with her. 

“Do you need to recharge? I still have 45% left,” Sandy asks when she puts down her phone a few minutes later. Cate is once again torn from her thoughts. She turns to pick up her phone and check her battery, then hums in confirmation and thanks Sandy as she takes the charger from her, quickly hooking up her phone and putting it down on the nightstand. Cate watches Sandy as she shuffles to lie down and Cate leans over to pull Sandy into a lazy, minty kiss, enjoying the eager, yet sleepy way she feels Sandy respond instantly.

“Is it okay if we don’t have sex tonight?” Sandy's words are a mumbled mess against Cate's lips, sleep obviously making her drag her lips. “I’m just... I’m really exhausted.” As if to emphasize, Sandy yawns deeply.

“Of course that’s okay.” 

Cate presses one last kiss to Sandy's lips, then cuddles up to her body, her arm lying over Sandy's hips and her forehead pressed to Sandy's temple. Within seconds she feels Sandy's breathing even out and even though she hasn’t felt this tired in weeks, sleep keeps evading her. For an hour she tosses and turns, torn between her doubts for Sandy’s feelings and her trust that Sandy wouldn’t lie to her, before exhaustion finally pulls her under sometime after midnight. The last thing she thinks of is the fact that she’d never spend the night with Amy, Gillian or Rooney without giving or receiving at least one orgasm beforehand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest with you: I'm not satisfied with this chapter. At all. But. Sometimes, after you've finished editing it for the third time, you just have to admit defeat and move on.   
> I promise that the next chapter will be longer and smuttier again :D


	8. 8. “I think we need to talk.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cate worries about the direction their relationship is going in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I'm really sorry for the long wait. I've hit a nasty depressive phase, which resulted in an even nastier writer's block.  
> Which is also the reason why this chapter isn't my best work and I want to apologize for that. I've now spent a month on this chapter, edited it countless times and I'm still not happy with it, which makes me think that I probably never will be. Therefore, I've decided to accept that not every chapter can be a winner and move on.   
> I hope you'll still like it or, at the very least, won't give up on this story based on this one chapter.  
> And second, I want to thank each and every one of you who leaves comments on this story. On my worst days these comments are the only thing that keeps me writing. Thank you so much, you guys, really!

It’s not even 6am yet when Cate hears a creak behind her. She breaks off her staring match with the blank tv and turns around to find Sandy in her sleep wear slowly and tiredly shuffling towards her. 

“You’re up early.”

Sandy’s voice is low and grave and her eyes aren’t fully open yet. Cate sighs, takes a sip of her tea and shudders as the now cold liquid runs down her throat. She’s been sitting here for about half an hour, came down here after she’d woken up at half past 5am, dead tired but still unable to fall back asleep. She knows exactly why she feels so restless, having had the same thoughts tumbling through her tired mind for hours now and she always comes back to the same conclusion.

She lets her gaze travel over Sandy and a small smile grows on her lips. She has to admit that she looks really cute with her wild bed hair and cute little pyjama shorts. Then she remembers why she’s up at this ungodly hour and her smile fades. With a small pat to the empty couch space beside her, she asks Sandy to sit with her for a moment. “I think we need to talk.”

For a moment Sandy looks confused and scared and Cate can tell that she is trying to read her body language and facial expression, suddenly much more awake than just a few seconds earlier. With a hesitation to her step she slowly and apprehensively walks towards Cate and sits down on the couch next to her. Cate takes a deep breath. She’s been going back and forth about bringing up this topic with Sandy for half an hour now but to be honest, she has always known the conclusion she’d end up with. She knows that she needs to cling to their rules of honest communication because if she doesn’t she wouldn’t feel comfortable in her skin anymore, it would feel like she’s cheating on both Andrew and Sandy and she simply can’t handle that.

She looks up and tries to give Sandy a quick, small smile to soothe her nerves, then takes the plunge.

“When we started this, we agreed on rules - honesty, trust, no feelings other than friendship - and I just-” With every word she says, the courage and confidence she started out with leave her. Her gaze is fixed on her cold tea, unable to meet Sandys eyes. “-I just wanted to make sure that we’re still on the same page, I guess.” 

Silence is her only answer for a few seconds and Cate finally brings herself to lift her eyes to meet Sandy’s, only to find a look of confusion directed back at her. Maybe it’s the early hour or maybe she really didn’t expect Cate’s question but it takes Sandy a few moments to answer. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

It’s said with such confusion and perplexity that Cate is momentarily convinced that her worries and concerns were completely unfounded after all. Did she really just imagine it all? Did she project her fears onto Sandy last night when she suggested Cate have a key to her house? 

No, she saw Sandy’s uncertainty, she knows she did. When Sandy mentioned the key she knew how Cate would react, she knew that it would mean more than friendship, that’s why she was nervous to suggest it in the first place. 

Right?

Sandy stays silent, looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to explain this unusual conversation at 6am in the morning. It makes Cate want to justify herself.

“Because... I just... listen,” Cate huffs silently. This is not how she thought this conversation would go. She takes a moment to gather her thoughts, setting aside her defensiveness and thinking back to what made her bring up this topic today. “I like you a lot Sandy, but I’m already in a committed relationship and I don’t want another one. And a key usually holds more meaning than just friendship.” 

Sandy seems more alert now, no trace of tiredness left in her features. She raises an eyebrow and cocks her head, a smile appearing on her lips.

“The ‘Friends’ had keys to each other’s apartments.”

“Yes, and two thirds of them ended up marrying each other.“

It’s clearly meant as a joke and Cate is glad it breaks the tension in the room a bit. It lifts the pressure between them and gives them the opportunity to let silence settle over them for a moment, both of them thinking over their next words. Cate watches the cold tea in her mug, wishing it was still hot so she could take a sip and let the soothing aroma of camomile settle the chaos in her mind. When she speaks up again, her voice is lower and calmer than before.

“I don’t wanna end this, Sandy, I really like you and I think we have a lot of fun with each other.” 

“Cate,” Sandy sighs in a tired and confused way. Gone is the smile from her lips and the humor from her words. “Why are we having this conversation? What-” She halts for a moment, as if looking for the right words, then speaks up again. “-what brought this on? I thought you were fine with the key when we talked about it yesterday?”

Sandy’s reaction startles Cate for a second until she realizes that all her reasoning and arguing has been internal and even though they’ve been talking about this for ten minutes now, she still hasn’t actually told Sandy what it is that bothers her about their relationship. No wonder Sandy is still confused. Cate sends a silent apology to heaven, then hurries to explain her thoughts out loud.

“I just... I started to notice things.” Letting go of her mug with one hand, she extends her fingers as she starts listing off the things that make her most uneasy. “You keep my favorite bubble bath in your bathroom, you asked me if I wanted a drawer for my overnight stuff... hell, I’m drinking tea out of my own personal mug right now.” 

She holds up the mug she’s been holding for almost an hour now, showing the print that says  _ ‘That’s some Hela fine coffee’ _ with a picture of her character from  _ Thor _ . The movie wouldn’t hit cinemas for another six months but Chris Hemsworth had gotten hold of some early editions of the merchandize and sent her this mug to her trailer on the  _ Ocean’s 8 _ set. Sandy saw it and found it so hilarious that she took it home with her that night and put it on her kitchen shelf, proclaiming it Cate’s personal mug.

“I’m sleeping over so often I’m surprised your neighbors haven’t called the tabloids yet. I know that this domesticity we’ve found ourselves in wasn’t a conscious choice by either of us, it sneaked up on us. But I think we should try to tone it down a bit.”

Cate’s eyes flit over Sandy’s face, carefully watching her reaction and trying to determine her thoughts. Sandy takes a moment. She studies Cate’s face carefully, then her eyes rest on the mug and Cate recognizes the look in her eyes as one Sandy often carries when she is trying to figure out a problem or puzzle. Cate remains silent. She wants to give her the time to think things through. She herself has had a few hours to mull over this topic now and it wouldn’t be fair to expect an instant answer from Sandy.

After what feels like half an eternity, Sandy finally speaks up. “What are you really worried about, Cate? That I’m in love with you?” 

The question takes Cate by surprise. She hadn’t really come quite to the same conclusion, the idea of Sandy being in love with her hadn’t even crossed her mind. She was just worried that their friends-with-benefits relationship was slowly turning into a real relationship and that Sandy would sooner or later expect things from her, that she wasn’t ready or able to give her. Sandy doesn’t wait for her answer though, meant it more as a rhetorical question, it seems, and quickly continues on.

“I’m not in love with you. I promise. This is just a really fun friendship, right?”

Cate tries to read Sandy’s face, tries to find any indication of dishonesty or false bravado there. She is not stupid, she knows that Sandy is an exceptional actress and could hide her emotions and real thoughts from her if she wanted. Maybe she’s just saying what she thinks Cate wants to hear, so she won’t break up with her.

Why is this so hard? With Amy, Gillian and Rooney she never had to deal with that. Even though she’s always had her suspicions that Rooney might be in love with her, it still had never had any effect on their relationship. They never slept over, they never left stuff at each other’s places, there was no domesticity.

When she started this thing with Sandy, she didn’t think that it would get this complicated. She’d thought that Sandy, who’d been fresh out of a relationship, would be happy with just sex, with not thinking of anyone else when making plans, of not having to compromise when fixing dinner. They were just supposed to be good friends who occasionally give each other orgasms.

With a sigh Cate looks down again, at the half filled mug in her hands. What would Andrew think of all this? She really can’t lose him, he’s always been there for her, has always stood by her side, the most understanding man she’s ever met. Would he agree with her, ask her to end this fling with Sandy?

She’s wanted to call him during this past hour, get his input and let his calm, reasonable view of things sooth her worries. But she left her phone on the nightstand in Sandy’s bedroom and she didn’t want to walk back in and risk waking her up. It probably makes her a coward, trying to postpone this discussion for as long as possible, but she needed the time to sort her thoughts.

With a shake of her head she brings herself back to the present. Maybe Sandy is right, maybe it’s just her who puts too much thought into this situation. After all, she’s never been in a similar situation before, where domesticity had been a possibility. Maybe she would have had to deal with similar fears if Rooney had owned a house near their shooting location, all those years ago.

Cate looks up at Sandy again, who is still waiting for her response. Only a minute has passed since she asked her question but Cate’s tumbling chaos of a million thoughts makes it feel like they’ve been sitting here for days. Sandy’s eyes are unwavering and patient and once again, Cate is reminded of Sandy’s profession. She  _ could _ be lying. But where would that leave them, if Cate decides now that she can’t trust Sandy anymore? She’s lived with this agreement for many years and if there’s one thing she knows for sure, it’s that their relationship won’t survive, if Cate stops trusting Sandy now. She has always known that this is the hardest part of the agreement: trusting that everyone else is also telling the truth. But if she wants her relationships to work, there isn’t any other way. They agreed on honesty and she will trust that Sandy is staying true to that. 

And besides, they’ll wrap shooting at the end of this month and once they aren’t in such close proximity all the time anymore and she will be spending more time with Andrew again, this problem will probably not be an issue anymore. They’ll only see each other every now and then and if her experience with Rooney is anything to go by, then the short meetings, they’ll manage to fit in between their busy schedules, will be spent mostly naked without much talking.

“Right,” Cate finally agrees as a small smile grows on her lips. She’s not happy to be apart from Sandy but she is looking forward to spending more time with her husband and kids again. 

Slowly, a smile spreads over Sandy’s face, one of those real ones, that light up her whole face and make her eyes shine. Cate loves those smiles and feels her usual reaction to it: a desperate need to kiss Sandy. She sets her cold tea down on the coffee table, then scoots closer to Sandy and pulls her into a long, soft kiss, their tongues dancing in a slow way that makes her hungry for more despite the exhaustion that still lingers in her bones.

When they part, Cate is pleased to notice that Sandy is breathing just as hard as she is. She is still contemplating if it’s really a good idea to start something sexual right now, when Sandy puts in words what the tired part of her brain is thinking.

“So, now that we’ve talked about this, you wanna come back to bed? We could still get two hours of sleep in before we need to get up.” 

A longing little moan escapes Cate and before she knows it, she has already agreed. “Oh god, yes please, I’m getting too old for just four hours of sleep a night.”

Sandy chuckles softly, then presses one more quick peck to her lips. They get up and decidedly ignore the dirty mug on the coffee table. Sandy takes Cate’s hand in hers and leads the way upstairs, their fingers staying entwined the whole way up the stairs and down the hallway. While Sandy pads over to the bed and quickly slips under the sheets, Cate takes a moment to watch her from afar. The feeling of worry and fear has mostly dissipated. She trusts Sandy and feels confident that they can both make this work until filming of this movie wraps up in a few weeks. It will be easier to keep their relationship within its boundaries then, she’s sure of that.

As she closes the bedroom door behind her and is just about to walk over to the other side of the bed, something catches her eye. On the floor by the closet lies a small package, obviously sent by mail judging by the stamp and address, ripped open but folded close again. She must have been really absent yesterday for not even noticing it until now. Cate isn’t sure why but something about that package seems familiar to her and with a newly spiked curiosity she crosses the room and picks it up.

“What’s that?” 

The deep blush that rises over Sandy’s features as soon as she sees what she is asking about, makes Cate even more curious. She tries to gather more information by guessing the weight and size of the package, then checks to see who sent it. Unfortunately there is no sender printed on the outside.

“Oh, that… it’s... nothing.” The blush is now covering the tips of her ears and even going down her neck to touch the top of her chest and if Cate hasn’t been suspicious before, she surely is now. She really wants to just open it and peek inside but she doesn’t want to invade Sandy’s privacy either, especially if Sandy is as embarrassed by the content as it seems. 

“Well,  _ something _ is making you blush like this.. what is it?,” she tries again, a teasing smirk now grazing her lips. Sandy pulls the blanket over her head, opting for the simple solution of just not engaging at all and it pulls a quick, endearing laugh from Cate’s lips. “May I look inside?”

There is a muffled grumble coming from beneath the blanket but since Sandy doesn’t outright object, Cate interprets it as “do whatever you want, I’m not here”.

Carefully Cate folds the flaps to the side and removes the sheets of bubble wrap, opening the package with a curiosity of a five year old on Christmas morning, and is pleasantly surprised to find a very familiar object in it. With a huge grin she reaches in and pulls out a purple silicone dildo, slightly curved, with a strong hilt and a delicately formed glans. If Cate had to guess, she’d say it must be at least six inches long, maybe even seven.  It has a fancy pearlescent shimmer and is attached to a pair of black and purple RodeoH lace harness panties.

“Oh my… Sandy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't promise a quick update. It looks like I've moved past the writer's block right now, but I don't wanna jinx it.   
> And, in case anyone noticed: Yes, I changed the total number of chapters to 19 because there are constantly new ideas popping up in my head that don't fit with my already existing outline and have to be squeezed in. I hope you don't mind :)

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to hit me up on [Tumblr](http://inthetardis-asitshouldbe.tumblr.com/).


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